PTFoMS hails junking of Bantag’s plea to dismiss murder raps

The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) has hailed the Court of Appeals’ (CA) dismissal of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gerald Bantag’s petition challenging the murder case filed against him in connection with the killing of broadcaster Percival Mabasa in October 2022.

PTFoMS executive director, Undersecretary Paul Gutierrez, said the junking by the CA to dismiss the murder case against him should convince those giving him shelter that the government’s case against him has basis in fact and in law.

“The court, after diligent review, has rejected Mr. Bantag’s arguments. Now that his appeal to dismiss the murder case against him was denied, it will be much better for him to surface and defend himself in the proper forum if he believes that he is innocent of the crime,” Gutierrez said.

“Those who continue to give Mr. Bantag shelter believing he is being ‘persecuted’ as he claims, should now realize that he is simply being made to account for a crime he allegedly masterminded,” he added.

Gutierrez said he recently met with different law enforcement agencies, including the special investigation team (SIT) and special tracking teams (STTs) in the Cordillera region and Baguio City, to discuss the status of the manhunt for Bantag.

“The public can hope that the administration does not stop pursuing the accused behind the violence against the media,” Gutierrez said.

The CA, in a four-page resolution last June 19, affirmed the orders issued by the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court which denied the motion to quash the charge and the warrant of arrest issued on the Mabasa murder.

Bantag is the subject of a manhunt operations based on the warrants of arrest issued by the Las Piñas and Muntinlupa city courts in connection with the killing of Mabasa and Cristito “Jun” Palana Villamor, an inmate who allegedly acted as the “middleman” in the killing of Mabasa.

Mabasa, radio block timer for DWBL 1242, was gunned down on Oct. 3, 2022, while Villamor ended up dead some two weeks later, on Oct. 18, 2022.