By Leonardo Micua

 

SO, the gunman in the slaying of hard-hitting broadcaster Percy Lapid whose real name is Percy Mabasa, surrendered to the police after being bothered by his conscience.

But the alleged middleman from the National Bilibid Prison implicated by the confessed gunman was found to have already died on October 18. Whether it is coincidental or not, investigators must find the cause of his death.

Well, those fond of watching spy movies in the celluloid world will easily suspect that the man tagged by the gunman as the one who contacted him and hired him and his three conspirators to execute the brazen crime may have been silenced by the brains behind the slaying.

This is possible but since the middleman, who may be the only link to the mastermind has already died and everybody else knows that a dead man tells no tale, investigators may be facing a dead end in their investigation at this stage.

I hope not. I know the police and the National Bureau of Investigation are true to their tasks and won’t be easily distracted by the death of the supposed middleman who, we all know—as clear as day— to be an inmate of the national penitentiary.

If the result of the autopsy on the inmate’s body indicates evidence of foul play, there was no doubt Percy was eliminated for just measly half a million pesos. Until the result of the autopsy becomes official, everything else is hypothetical,

As suggested by many of Lapid’s friends and former co-workers, probers can back track on the latest issues discussed by the fearless broadcasters in his program Lapid Fire to have a clue of who may have the biggest motivation to silence the broadcaster.

I did, but there were simply many controversial issues discussed by the broadcaster and since I am not one of the investigators, I am at a loss about what is it that could cause somebody to lose his cool and vent his anger on Percy.

The eyes of practically all the democratic worlds, especially U.S., Canada and Europe, are on the Philippines on how fast our law enforcers can give justice to the bereaved family of  Mr. Mabasa, alias Percy Lapid.

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The situation at the Malimgas Public Market in Dagupan City has become intolerable ever since this place was made to undergo facelifting by the past city administration.

Usual customers of Malimgas are now buying from the MC Adore Market just across the street because of the former’s intolerable situation, further exacerbated when the contractor employed by the past city administration abandoned his work half done. 

Stallholders are now complaining to Mayor Belen Fernandez that though the floor of a section of Malimgas was raised by probably one foot or higher, no tiles were provided and in that kind of state, the floor becomes slippery when wet.

Belen said that no running water was provided and in order to relieve the discomfort of fish vendors, she ordered temporary water connection to each fish stall.  To date, the rice section has not been raised and the bangus deboning section was left in disarray.

The frontage of the market or the space between Galvan Street and Malimgas is one eyesore that needs to be filled and paved.

In short, it was no longer the Malimgas Market that people knew before and no longer provides the best condition to market fresh food stuffs to be cooked and stocked in the fridge.

The comfort rooms on the first floor are still closed and remained unrepaired. So is the comfort room on Jovellanos Street. One will also feel uneasy when one enters the market today because it is oven-hot all day with a little air ventilation in the area.

Belen should run after the contractor of the unfinished project who she said has not returned to finish his contract despite several demand letters already sent to him and his company. 

To protect the interest of the city, Belen should order the city engineering office as well as her legal office to review the contract entered into by former Mayor Brian Lim and this contractor or his company.  (We learned that his contractor used to be an official who held  a high-paying position under the Lim administration, a clear conflict of interest and violation of laws, particularly civil services laws). 

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