Bantag faces new murder rap over Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — Former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag was charged with murder anew over the killing of an inmate who allegedly ran a Facebook page that criticized how he managed the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), the Department of Justice (DOJ) said yesterday.

Among those charged with murder alongside Bantag were his former deputy Ricardo Zulueta, former BuCor official Victor Pascua and inmates Rolando Villaver, Mark Lamperia, Charlie Dacuyan and Wendell Sualog, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.

Earlier this year, Villaver said that Bantag had some inmates killed over the Facebook page “Leon ng Bilibid.”

Based on the National Bureau of Investigation’s probe, inmate Hegel Samson allegedly ran the page. Samson died in 2020 due to heart attack triggered by asphyxiation.

The four inmates said they were instructed to “eliminate” anyone associated with the page.

According to a case briefer released by the DOJ, Villaver was ordered by Bantag through Zulueta to eliminate Samson. Pascua affirmed Zulueta’s directive and reminded Villaver “to carry out the task discreetly, leaving no trace,” the briefer stated.

Remulla said Samson’s death was among the deaths in the NBP that are under investigation.

Bantag and Zulueta, who remain at large, are the subjects of a manhunt for the murders of broadcaster Percy Lapid and NBP Jun Villamor, the alleged middleman in Lapid’s killing.