Philippine prisons chief charged in journalist’s killing

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine authorities have filed murder complaints against the country’s top prisons official and an aide, accusing them of masterminding the killing of a radio commentator. They say the elaborate crime shows the prisons system has been turned into a “criminal organization.” The complaints were filed Monday against the Bureau of Corrections chief, who has been suspended, a prisons security official as well as other suspects in the Oct. 3 fatal shooting of Percival Mabasa. The reporter had fiercely criticized the officials for alleged corruption and other anomalies. Mabasa, who used the broadcast name Percy Lapid, is among the latest media workers killed in a country regarded as among the most dangerous for journalists in the world. Nearly 200 have been killed since 1986.