Suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag was mired in deeper legal woes after six jail guards from the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan formally filed criminal charges against him.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier sacked Bantag as the suspected brains behind last year’s murder of broadcaster Percival Mabasa a.k.a. Percy Lapid.
The six jail guards accused Bantag and 11 other BuCor officials of alleged torture, grave threat, coercion, oral defamation, and obstruction of justice.
Cited as Bantag’s co-accused were, former BuCor deputy security officer Superintendent Ricardo Zulueta, former BuCor spokesman Gabriel Chaclag, jail guards Jayferson Bon-As, Victor Pascua, Bayani Allaga, Rose Marie Casion, Joel Arnold, Kanoy Lattot, Ave Akilit, Edgar Angeles Jr., and Michale Marzan.
The DOJ which took cognizance of the charges, identified the complainants as Richie Canja, Lazaro Rafols, Jer Mojado, Eddie Jimenez, Roy Gacasa, and Asher Labrador.
GMA News reported that Zulueta’s counsel, Lauro Gaca an, said they cannot comment as they have yet to read the complaint.
Gacayan was quoted as saying he was am sorry he could not “comment on matters that we have not read.”
“Our clients have not received the complaints under oath,” Gacayan said.
Lawyer Mauricio Ulep, BuCor’s legal counsel, said the complainants were originally based at the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm..
Canja claimed the respondents assaulted him and his companions on March 1, 2020 at the Iwahig facility for supposedly exposing an asset of the BuCor.
The following day, the complainants said they were ordered transferred to the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City where Bantag allegedly assaulted them.
“Sa complaint nila si Bantag lang. Pero nakipagcooperate ‘yung mga iba dahil wala silang ginawa. Hindi nila pinigilan si Bantag,” Ulep said.
In a separate interview, Canja said Bantag also allegedly threatened to harm their families.
“Okay lang sana kung kami ‘yun pero kung isama pa ‘yung pamilya namin, sasabihin nila pa sa amin na, ‘pu…ina ninyo, gusto ninyo pag dudukutin ko pa ‘yung mga pamilya ninyo at ‘yung mga asawa ninyo babarurutin ko sa harapan ninyo’,” Canja recalled.
The complainants also submitted a medical certificate dated December 13, 2022 to certify that Canja was treated on March 1, 2020 for multiple physical injuries secondary to mauling following an altercation with Bon-As.
However, Canja said that they did not go to the hospital following the run in with Bantag.
“Wala po sir. Wala pong pag gamutan na nangyari. Lahat po ng pananakit nila tinanggap namin ‘yan, kasama ng pananakit ng kanyang mga tao. ‘Yung paglagay nila ng bala sa amin. Itinuring kaming parang mga alipin sa gilid,” he said.
Bantag was suspended in October 2022 following the death of Jun Villamor, the inmate who allegedly acted as the middleman in the killing of Percy Lapid.
Authorities later identified him to be one of the masterminds in the killing of Lapid and Villamor. He is facing two complaints for murder.
Bantag had denied complicity in Lapid’s death, saying he suspected that a “syndicate” and “narco-politics” were behind the plot to implicate him.
He accused Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla of using Lapid’s killing to cover the drug-related case against Remulla’s son during that time and having political plans in 2025.
The drug case filed against Remulla’s son has been junked by a Las Piñas court.