Percival Carag Mabasa, known professionally as Percy Lapid, was a Filipino radio journalist and broadcaster who hosted the program *Lapid Fire* on DWBL. He was known for covering corruption cases, including irregularities related to the Sugar Regulatory Administration's aborted sugar-import order, a scandal that contributed to the resignation of an executive secretary in September 2022. He was also a vocal critic of red-tagging and disinformation in the Philippines.
On October 3, 2022, at around 8:30 p.m., Lapid was shot and killed while driving home to BF Resort Village in Las Piñas, Metro Manila. His vehicle was in a queue at a subdivision checkpoint when a motorcycle carrying two men approached, and the gunman fired two shots, killing Lapid instantly. He was the third journalist killed in the Philippines in 2022 according to UNESCO, and the second during the presidency of Bongbong Marcos according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.
Joel Escorial surrendered to authorities on October 17, 2022, and confessed to being the gunman. He implicated brothers Edmon and Israel Dimaculangan and identified a chain of command running through intermediaries to Jun Villamor, an inmate at New Bilibid Prison. Villamor died on October 18, 2022; while the Bureau of Corrections and an initial NBI autopsy found no signs of foul play, a second autopsy by forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun concluded he died of suffocation from a plastic bag.
In March 2023, the Department of Justice indicted seventeen individuals in connection with the killings of Lapid and Villamor. Prosecutors found probable cause to charge Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag and his deputy, Ricardo Zulueta, as principals by inducement, alongside several other individuals charged as principals by direct participation or indispensable cooperation. Bantag has maintained his innocence and alleged that a drug lord was responsible. Zulueta died in March 2024, reportedly of natural causes, though the Department of Justice ordered an investigation into the circumstances.
As of the most recent reporting, four co-accused — Aldrin Galicia, Alvin Labra, Alfie Peñaredonda, and Denver Mayores — have been convicted as accessories through plea bargains and sentenced to terms of two to eight years. Escorial pleaded guilty to a downgraded homicide charge and received a sentence of 8 years, 8 months to 16 years in May 2024. In the related Villamor case, eight accused pleaded guilty as accomplices and accessories, receiving sentences ranging from two to fourteen years. Bantag remains a fugitive, and Interpol issued a Red Notice for him in 2026. The killing drew condemnation from domestic and international press freedom organizations, including UNESCO, which cited the Philippines' record as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.
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