Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 14) — Joel Escorial, the self-confessed gunman in the killing of radio broadcaster Percival Mabasa, has asked a Las Piñas court to allow him to plead guilty to the lesser offense of homicide instead of murder.
Escorial filed the motion to plea-bargain through his lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office before the Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court Branch 254 on Monday.
\”Wherefore, premises considered, in the interest of justice and for the mutual benefit of the State and the accused, it is most respectfully prayed of this Honorable Court to allow accused Joel Escorial y Salve to enter into plea bargaining to lesser offense of homicide,\” the motion read.
The motion is still up for approval of the court, the document read.
If granted, Escorial will face up to 20 years in prison instead of up to 40 years for the charge of murder.
In a Facebook post, the victim’s brother Roy Mabasa also said the self-confessed gunman \”requested that he be placed under the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in Samar for security reason.\”
The slain journalist, who’s also known as Percy Lapid, was gunned down inside his vehicle in Las Piñas City in October last year.
About two weeks later, the so-called middleman Jun Villamor, a national penitentiary inmate, died inside the New Bilibid Prison. An independent autopsy showed he was suffocated with a plastic bag.
TIMELINE: The Percy Lapid slay case
Escorial surrendered to authorities “out of fear for personal safety,” Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos previously said.
Escorial is facing a murder charge in the Percy Lapid slay case, along with three alleged accomplices Israel Dimaculangan, Edmon Dimaculangan, and an alias “Orly/Orlando.” They are tagged as “principals by direct participation”.
Three Bilibid gang leaders have already pleaded guilty to being accessories to murder and were sentenced to up to eight years in prison.
