Police in the Philippines have charged the country’s jail service chief with giving the go-ahead for the murder of a well-known radio broadcaster.
Percival Mabasa, 63, was fatally shot last month while en route to his radio studio in a Manila neighborhood.
According to officials, he had previously made accusations of corruption against Gerald Bantag, director general of the Bureau of Corrections.
Mabasa was a vocal opponent of Rodrigo Duterte, a former president of the Philippines.
According to an AFP story, Mr. Bantag, who is now on administrative leave, will “probably be the highest official of [the] land ever charged with a case of this gravity,” according to Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla.
Along with that, Ricardo Zulueta, his assistant security guard, has been charged with murder by the police. Joel Escorial, the alleged shooter, turned himself in to police earlier in October after his face was recognized on security footage.
Additionally, Mr. Bantag and Mr. Zulueta are charged with giving the go-ahead to kill another prisoner, who reportedly gave the order to the shooter.
According to Eugene Javier of the National Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Bantag is accused of ordering the murder of Mabasa as a result of “the continual exposé by the latter against the former on his show.”
Mr. Bantag, who had been employed by former president Rodrigo Duterte, reportedly told the radio DZRH earlier in the month that he had nothing to do with the murder.
If there is sufficient proof to bring charges in court, that decision will be made by prosecutors at the justice department.
Mabasa, a radio host known by the alias Percy Lapid, was assassinated on October 3 and became the second journalist to die since the election of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
According to the international watchdog Reporters without Borders, the Philippines has seen at least 187 deaths of journalists during the past three decades (RSF).
On its Press Freedom Index, RSF ranked the Philippines 147th out of 180 nations, a drop of nine places from 2021.
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