KALIBO, Aklan – The newly-organized Aklan Media Integrated Alliance (AMIA) has called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct a deeper investigation into the killing of broadcast journalist Percy Lapid and bring the perpetrators and mastermind to justice.
Although born in Manila, AMIA said that Lapid, Percival Carag Mabasa in real life, had deep roots in Aklan, “so in a sense, he was one of our own who earned acclaim as a hard-hitting broadcaster known all over the country.”
The group underscored Lapid’s remarkable footprint as a critic whose voice inspired many people to stand up for what is right, making him a giant of his craft.
“It is imperative, therefore, that authorities under your stewardship must use its considerable force and influence to get to the bottom of this case and seek ways to identify the person or persons behind the killing of Percy Lapid. This matter, indeed, has to be a subject of a much fuller investigation to unmask the mastermind behind this gruesome murder,” AMIA’s letter to Secretary Crispin C. Remulla read.
Lapid was shot dead on the evening of Oct. 3 while onboard his car on his way home to BF Resort Village in Las Piñas, the latest killing involving a Filipino journalist that received condemnation both domestically and internationally and from foreign governments, human rights organizations, media organizations and watchdogs.
The group further expressed concern that the alleged “middleman” in the Lapid murder plot died under mysterious circumstances at the National Bilibid Prison where he was detained.
“We are alarmed that this may led to another case that faces a blankwall or be included in the long list of unsolved crimes involving journalists,” the group said.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide, 85 journalists have been killed in the Philippines from 1992 to 2021, making the country the seventh worst country in the world in terms of number of journalists murdered and where most of their killers go unpunished.
“The media has been at the forefront of all our epochal struggles. Even at a hostile climate, many journalists of this nation have taken and are taking into the frontlines at great risk to their personal well-being and safety to advocate for truth, fairness, justice, and democracy. And many, among them, are paying the price, including the ultimate price of death, just like what happened to our colleague, Percy Lapid,” the group emphasized in the letter to Remulla.
The letter was signed by Jonathan Cabrera (Todo Media), Noel Cabobos (Boracay Informer), Boy Ryan Zabal (Aklan News Forum), Joemer Soriano (Brigada News FM), John Chester Redecio (DYIN Bombo Radyo-Kalibo), Ernie Sambuang (RMN-DYKR), Philip Alfaro (Radyo Todo), Jun Ariolo Aguirre (GMA-Aklan/Rappler), Che Indelible (Energy FM), Jodel Rentillo (Radyo Todo), Edwin Ramos (Radyo Bandera Kalibo), and Ronel Irodestan (Radyo Natin Kalibo).
AMIA furnished copies of the letter to the office of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., Philippine National Police director General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., National Bureau of Investigation director Medardo G. De Lemos, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director Police General Ronald O. Lee, and to fellow journalist Roy Mabasa, brother of Lapid, who is representing the Mabasa family.
“Please help us keep this issue afloat and alive. We don’t want this to become a mere statistics. Again, please accept my heartfelt thanks sa inyo diyan sa Aklan which I consider as my natural home,” Mabasa told AMIA in a message shortly after receiving the copy of AMIA’s position on Lapid’s case./PN
