MANILA, Philippines – A Las Piñas City court sentenced three New Bilibid Prison gang leaders to imprisonment of two up to eight years after they pleaded guilty as accessories to the killing of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.

Veteran journalist Roy Mabasa, Lapid’s brother, said on Friday, June 23, that Las Pinas City Regional Trial Court Branch 254 Presiding Judge Harold Cesar Hulinganga sentenced Bilibid gang leaders Aldrin Galicia, Alvin Labra, and Alfie Peñaredonda for being accessories in the killing of Lapid.

Mabasa confirmed to Rappler that the suspects pleaded guilty to the allegations against them. The veteran journalist also said the sentence was announced during a court hearing on Friday. Mabasa added that the court hearing will resume in August.

In a statement, Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said the conviction of the three suspects is a “very welcome development.”

“They are not only doing this for the case but for themselves as well,” Clavano said. “However, the Department is not stopping there. We would like to see their principal, the brains behind the murders, plead guilty or convicted. That is the only time we can say that Justice has been served.”

Galicia, Labra, and Peñaredonda were originally tagged in the case as principals by indispensable cooperation. With their pleading, the gang leaders got a lesser penalty because accessories to a crime have a lesser sanction compared to principals.

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Persons accused in the Percy Lapid killing

Galicia is the commander of Sputnik gang, while Labra heads Batang City Jail, and Peñaredonda leads the Happy Go Lucky gang.

According to a DOJ report released in 2022, former Bureau of Corrections superintendent Ricardo Zulueta, who worked under former BuCor chief Gerald Bantag, allegedly instructed Labra to have Galicia kill Jun Villamor, the alleged middleman in the case. – Rappler.com