Bantag asks court to defer issuance of arrest warrant

The camp of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag on Thursday filed a motion that sought to defer the issuance of the arrest warrant against him.

According to a report on "24 Oras," the court gave the prosecution 10 days to comment.

Meanwhile, Bantag, the alleged mastermind in the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid and inmate Jun Villamor, also has 10 days to respond to the prosecution.

The Muntinlupa court said Bantag's camp argued the Department of Justice should first resolve their pending motion of reconsideration before issuing a warrant of arrest.

On March 14, the DOJ panel of prosecutors indicted Bantag and former deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta for two counts of murder over the killing of  Lapid and Villamor.

Bantag's legal counsel, Rocky Balisong,  said they would file the "necessary pleadings" after studying the resolution.—Sherylin Untalan/LDF, GMA Integrated News