Another alleged accomplice in the killing of broadcaster Percival Mabasa has died, bringing to three the number of vital witnesses lost even before the supposed mastermind has been arrested.
Alleged getaway driver and second gunman Jake Mendoza “killed himself” after a long standoff with the police in Lipa City, Batangas last Sunday, August 11.
National Capital Region police director Jose Nartatez Jr. said Mendoza, also identified as “Alias Orly,” shot himself after taking his wife and daughter hostage for “several hours.”
A GMA News Online report however said the police operatives fired at Mendoza who locked himself inside the house, along with his wife and daughter.
Mendoza was identified by convicted gunman Joel Escorial as the one who contacted him and brothers Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan to kill Mabasa.
Mabasa, more popularly known as Percy Lapid, was killed on October 3, 2022, in Las Pinas while on his way home.
Mendoza was the third suspect in the Mabasa killing who died before the arrest of the alleged mastermind, fugitive, and former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general chief Gerard Bantag.
Jun Villamor was killed inside the National Bilibid Prison while Bantag’s BuCor deputy Ricardo Zulueta reportedly died of a heart attack last May while in hiding in Bataan.
Meanwhile, Christopher Bacoto, one of the alleged middlemen and gunman in the Percy Lapid murder, stood firm in his refusal to testify or enter a plea bargain.
In a court hearing on Monday, Bacoto maintained his silence, “[d]espite the compelling evidence that could result in a murder conviction,” Mabasa’s brother Roy said in a Facebook post.
Bacoto has been granted by the Las Pinas Regional Trial Court two weeks to reconsider his decision.
