President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos is not convinced that the alleged middleman in the killing of broadcaster Percival 'Percy Lapid' Mabasa has died of natural causes.
In a chance interview with reporters on Wednesday, Marcos said that even if the toxicology report on the death of inmate Crisanto Palara Villamor Jr. showed that he is negative of any poison or drug, he still asked the auhorities to check it more thoroughly.
"The toxicology report came back and mukha talagang walang lason o walang gamot na ibinigay doon sa namatay (and it seems like there's no poison or drug that was given to him before he died). I'm still not satisfied that it was natural causes," he said.
"There are ways to kill a person that do not show up in the medico legal, so tuloy-tuloy pa ang imbestigasyon (so the investigation continues)," he added.
Villamor was declared "dead on arrival" last October 18 at the hospital inside the New Bilibid Prison — just hours after alleged suspect Joel Estorial surrendered to the police.
The initial autopsy report did not specify the cause of his death while Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag insisted he died of “cardiac arrest.”
Marcos said he has no particular orders regarding the case as police officers know what to do but noted that he has been monitorng developments in it.
"We do not have any particular directives. The police know what to do. I’ll just get in the way. Imbestigahan ninyo nang mabuti. Alamin natin nang mabuti kung sinong behind this. Hanggang ngayon hindi pa tayo nakakasiguro (Let's identify who's behind this. Up to now, we are not sure yet)," he noted.
Lapid was shot dead while on his way home in Las Piñas City on October 3.
The Philippine National Police earlier said that around 160 personalities, including former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag, are considered persons of interest in the killing of Lapid.
