On Friday, 11 November, an outraged and visibly agitated suspended Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag, shattered his silence and faced the media. Despite evidently restraining himself to be calm, he could not contain the smoldering rage inside him from bursting into flames of righteous indignation, over what he perceives to be an unjust and baseless accusation.

He turned the tables on the Secretary of Justice, accusing the latter of using the Percy Lapid case with him as the "mastermind" to generate publicity in preparation for his Senate run in 2025. Bantag claims the SoJ's game plan is to target him as the mastermind. He further claims that the SoJ is tailoring concocted and unbelievable circumstances to frame him up for the twin murders.

Bantag says the SoJ has been lying about his alleged involvement. He cites the fact that he has offered and insisted on his resignation at the start of the present administration but the SoJ asked him to stay on as BuCor chief. He realizes now, he concludes, that the reason why his offer of resignation was not accepted was because the SoJ was planning to make him his target practice to boost his 2025 electoral chances.

He disputes the SoJ's claim that he did not attend the graduation rites of the inmates last 9 September and that he left the penitentiary as he was "very very livid" when he allegedly learned that Lapid was going to his Laguna residence to take pictures of his "mansion" and alleged numerous cars. He asserts that this allegation is a brazen lie and that he was, in fact, in the Director General's quarters on that day, identifying certain officials present as his witnesses. He also claims that it was not Lapid who took the pictures referred to. He says one of the two unidentified vehicles that went to Laguna that roamed around his house was traced to be connected with the SoJ.

He is laughing off being tagged as a mastermind in the killing of the radio commentator Percival Mabasa, aka Percy Lapid. Being so, he argues, makes him a million times dumb. He forwarded the following reasons why he could not be the mastermind:

First, he said that on 7 September 2020, he sent the video of the "Cinderella Man" story of Lapid where allegedly a government official had amassed wealth while in office owning a mansion and a fleet of cars. It was a blind item but he felt that he was the "Cinderella Man" being alluded to. In sending that video to him to the SoJ, he had hoped that the latter, as his superior, would give him advice on how to respond to a malicious insinuation against his person, but the former ignored it, he said.

He also sent the same video to his classmates in the PNPA in their group chat where he sought advice from them on what to do with the "Cinderella Man" video, as regards the legal remedies available to him. In effect, Bantag is saying that he let everybody know about his concern and displeasure, so why should he plot to kill the author of the offending video when he already told the world about his reaction? He should have kept whatever murderous thoughts he had to himself, lest he naturally would be the number one suspect if the subject of his anger turns up dead.

Second, he postulated that the suspect in the killing of a judge in Tagaytay by the name of German Agojo — who, he said, is a drug lord and who wants him dead — is the boss of the confessed gunman (Joel) Escorial and the middleman (Jun or Cristito) Villamor, how then could he order the hit on Lapid to the henchmen of Agojo, who is his mortal enemy? To Bantag, this is absurd and stupid. As an aside, the reverse could be more probably true if Agojo would order Escorial and Villamor to end the life of Bantag, and not him ordering Agojo's henchmen to do the criminal hit on the broadcaster.

Third, Bantag rationalized that since the accusation against him is false, he might as well spare himself the stress of being bothered by it, either ignoring it or filing a case against his critic, since the allegations against him are untrue, and just letting the law take its course.

He advanced the theory that the prison syndicates on illegal drugs are behind the killing of Lapid and his being removed from his position, as well as his being tagged as a mastermind. He theorized obliquely that the SoJ has something to do with it. He said he was still investigating deeper how he was being framed and he would in time reveal his findings.

Bantag also demanded and dared the SoJ to resign, saying the latter no longer has the "credibility" and the "moral ascendancy" to head the Department of Justice, owing to the latter's son's alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade for which charges had been filed. He also accused the SoJ of being a "marijuana user."

The Department of Justice has issued a general statement stating that "nobody wanted the evidence to point to Director General Bantag." It added that "there is no other motive here than to bring out the truth and reality," which it said will be performed "through our legal processes and with due process afforded to everyone involved."

The DoJ also said that the "totality" of the evidence gathered by the investigators point to the respondents as probably guilty thereof hence the filing of the criminal complaints against them. The statement further avers that "the Department of Justice understands the predicament of DG Bantag. His words and actions, no matter how personal and inappropriate, come from a misguided sense of betrayal."

The Secretary of Justice is presently out of the country on an official trip hence he has not issued any statement to respond to or to rebut the issues raised by DG Bantag. The statement of the DoJ on Bantag's allegations is couched on general terms. The public certainly will await — and expect a response from him.

The twists and turns of this murder case keep us glued to it. These are startling and disconcerting times. Let us brace ourselves for more surprises.