Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 23) — A Las Piñas court sentenced three Bilibid gang leaders to up to eight years in prison after pleading guilty as accessories to the October 2022 murder of veteran broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday.
Roy Mabasa, the brother of Lapid, announced this update through a Twitter post. He said inmates Aldrin Galicia, Alvin Labra, and Alfie Peñaredonda will serve from two to eight years in jail.
LAS PIÑAS CITY RTC Judge Harold Hulinganga sentenced three inmates Aldrin Galicia, Alvin Labra & Alfie Peñaredonda from 2 years up to 8 years imprisonment for their roles as accessories to murder broadcaster Percival Mabasa, also known as #PercyLapid, last October 3, 2022.
— ROY MABASA (@roymabasa) June 23, 2023
“This is a very welcome development,” Justice Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said in a message. “They are not only doing this for the case but for themselves as well. It is a mitigating circumstance to plead guilty which will lessen their sentence for this crime.”
But the DOJ spokesperson said the agency is “not stopping there” and would like to see “their principal, the brains behind the murders, plead guilty or convicted” to say that justice has been served.
Then unidentified gunmen in motorcycles shot dead Lapid inside his vehicle on Oct. 3 at the gate of a subdivision along Aria St., Barangay Talon Dos in Las Piñas City.
A month later, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police filed murder complaints against suspended Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag and Deputy Security Officer Ricardo Zulueta — the alleged masterminds behind the killing of the radio broadcaster and alleged middleman Jun Villamor.
The three inmates were also named respondents. Galicia was the commander of the Sputnik Gang, while Labra and Peñaredonda headed the BCJ Gang and HappyGoLucky Gang.
Bantag and Zulueta are still at large. The DOJ has offered reward money to speed up the gathering of information on the whereabouts of the two.
