No sign of ex-BuCor chief Bantag in Ifugao poultry police operation

BAGUIO CITY — Former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag eluded arrest after police failed to find him at a poultry farm in Barangay Pugol, Lamut, Ifugao, during an operation early Sunday.

Bantag is wanted in connection with the 2022 killings of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa and New Bilibid Prison inmate Cristito “Jun” Villamor, who was accused of acting as an intermediary in the plot to kill the broadcaster.

Bantag has denied the allegations and remains at large.

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The Ifugao Police Provincial Office (PPO) said personnel from its provincial office and the 1501st Regional Mobile Force Battalion 15 (RMFB 15) attempted to serve a warrant of arrest against Bantag at Clifford Olivas Poultry Farm in Sitio Alupapan.

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The joint operation, supervised by Ifugao PPO director Col. Jeremias Oyawon, began at 5 a.m.

Police arrived at the farm at 5:20 a.m. and attempted to implement the warrant 10 minutes later. They withdrew from the premises at 6:20 a.m.

Bantag, however, was not at the farm, preventing authorities from serving the warrant, the police report said.

Lamut Mayor Mariano Buyagawon said in a social media post that authorities had received intelligence information that Bantag was allegedly staying at the farm and posing as a poultry worker. /gsg