The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) panel of prosecutors has upheld a resolution denying the motion to inhibit it from investigating the two murder complaints filed against suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Bantag.
Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Charlie Guhit, a member of the group, revealed that during the hearing held at the DOJ on Tuesday, “the panel issued an order denying the motion for reconsideration filed by respondent Bantag.”
With the denial of his motion, Bantag was directed to submit his counter-affidavit on the two murder complaints on or before Feb. 8, the resumption of the preliminary investigation.
Bantag has been named as “principal by inducement” in the deaths of radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa and inmate Cristito Villamor Palana who was tagged by a self-confessed killer of the broadcaster as his “middleman.”
Guhit warned Bantag that “failure to submit counter-affidavits will constrain it (the panel) to submit the case for resolution, given the limited period for the conduct of preliminary investigation under the Rules of Court and Revised Manual for Prosecutors, 2017 Edition.”
Percy Lapid’s brother, veteran journalist Roy Mabasa, expressed hopes that Bantag would no longer submit a counter-affidavit on Feb. 8.
“Hopefully, on our side, Bantag would no longer file a counter-affidavit so that the panel will be able to swiftly decide whether there is probable cause to file murder charges in court,” Roy said.
The denied motion for reconsideration was filed by Bantag’s legal counsel, lawyer Rocky Thomas Balisong, before the panel last Jan. 24.
It sought to overturn the Jan. 17 order of the panel that denied Bantag’s motion to have the DOJ prosecutors inhibited from conducting the preliminary investigation of the murder complaints against him.
Balisong insisted that the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has jurisdiction to conduct the preliminary investigation of the complaints.
Aside from the murder complaints, Bantag is also facing before the DOJ two sets of torture complaints filed separately by two Bilibid inmates and five jail guards of the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF).
He also has an administrative case that led to his second 90-day preventive suspension as BuCor official.