Bantag eludes arrest in Ifugao

BAGUIO CITY -- Police failed to arrest the fugitive general and former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Q. Bantag in the early morning of 1 November 2026 at Lamut, Ifugao.

The enforcers tried to execute the arrest against Bantag but but failed to locate the suspect.

Joint elements of the Ifugao Police Provincial Office (IPPO) and the 1501st Regional Mobile Force Battalion 15 launched Oplan "Raniag" (shine) 01/2026 The operating units jumped off at 5:00 a.m. and arrived at Clifford Olivas Poultry Farm in Sitio Alupapan, Barangay Pugol, Lamut at 5:20 a.m. of the date.

Law enforcers served the warrant at 5:30 a.m., but the operation yielded negative results as Bantag was not at the site. The operatives completed their pull-out from the area at 6:20 a.m.

Bantag has been the subject of ongoing law enforcement searches after warrants were issued for his arrest in connection with high-profile murder cases. He was named the principal accused in the October 2022 killing of radio commentator Percival Mabasa, popularly known as Percy Lapid, who was shot dead near his residential subdivision in Las Piñas City. Investigations linked the former corrections chief to the crime after alleged middlemen and gunmen identified top prison officials as the orchestrators behind the targeted hit.

Court records show that Bantag faces separate murder charges involving the death of Cristito Villamor Palana, an inmate at the New Bilibid Prison who was identified as the alleged middleman in the broadcast journalist's assassination. Palana died inside the national penitentiary shortly after the killing of Lapid, prompting additional criminal indictments against Bantag and several co-accused. Authorities continue to gather intelligence to locate and apprehend the former official.