MANILA — The brother of slain broadcaster Percival Mabasa said Wednesday he found the testimony of the confessed gunman believable.

According to Roy Mabasa, he met Joel Escorial on Tuesday night when they had a walkthrough at the crime scene.

While he is not "100 percent" convinced on the hitman's story, Mabasa said Escorial's account of the crime was at least "consistent".

"Pagpaumanhin niyo po kung masabi kong naniniwala ako dito sa suspek na ito. Malaking bagay po 'yun para sa amin dahil nakita ko na talagang pinaghandaan nila," Mabasa told ANC's "Headstart".

(I apologize if I say that I believe this suspect. It's a big deal to us because I saw how they prepared for the crime.)

"Kaming pamilya ng biktima, kumakapit kami sa katotohanan. Alam mo sa situwasyong ito, napakahirap. Saan kami tatakbo? Kung hindi sa katotohanan, kung ano 'yung ihaharap sa aming ebidensiya," he added.

(We, the family of the victim, are only holding on to the truth. This situation is very difficult. Where else will we run to other than the truth, the evidence that will be presented to us.)

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During Mabasa's conversation with the suspect, he was told that Escorial was hired for the job by a middleman in "Bilibid".

In a press conference on Tuesday, Escorial named 3 accomplices, including a certain "Orly" and 2 men who are siblings.

Mabasa said Escorial claimed to have a total of 5 accomplices, including those who conducted surveillance on the victim who went by the name Percy Lapid.

The siblings named by Escorial were among those who tracked Lapid's whereabouts, according to the suspect.

"Yung walkthrough kagabi gave us a lot of perspective kung papano nila pinatay 'yung kapatid ko... Naghanda sila nang halos 2 linggo," Mabasa said.

(The walkthrough last night gave us a lot of perspective on how they killed my brother. They prepared for almost 2 weeks.)

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Mabasa also learned the reason why Escorial surrendered to police.

"Noong tinawagan daw siya ng middleman at sinabing ilalagay na sila sa safe house, dun na siya nag-decide na maghanap ng kakilala kung papaano susuko sa awtoridad dahil ang ibig sabihin ng safe house para sa kaniya ay papatayin na sila," he said.

(When the middleman called him and told him they will be moved to a safe house, that's when he decided to find out how to surrender to authorities because to him, safe house meant that they would be killed.)

Amid doubts Escorial could just be a fall guy, Mabasa said he trusts that truth would ultimately prevail during the court proceedings.

"As a reporter, hindi tayo naniniwala sa lahat ng sinasabi ng suspek kasi medyong mahabang proseso ito," he said. "Hindi ako 100 percent sure dahil mag-e-embellish siya ng sariling kuwento para iangat 'yung sarili niya."

"Subalit, panghahakwan ko 'yung sinabi niya sa amin," Mabasa added.

(As a reporter, we don't believe everything that the suspect says because this is a long process. I am not 100 percent sure because he could be embellishing this story. However, I hold on to what he said to us.)

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Escorial on Tuesday asked the Mabasa family for forgiveness, saying he was forced to carry out the hit order out of poverty.

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Despite surrendering to the police and admitting to the crime, Mabasa said he couldn't forgive the suspect yet.

"Hindi ako puwedeng magpatawad sa stage na ito hanggat hindi namin nakikita ang katotohanan," he said.

(I cannot forgive at this stage, when we have yet to see the truth.)

Mabasa also went to the Department of Justice on Wednesday morning to affirm the murder complaint filed against Escorial.

“Nandito po tayo upang i-formalize ang ating complaint laban dun sa alleged gunman ng aking kapatid na si Percy Lapid. Ito po ay inaasahan nating gugulong agad at tayo’y patuloy paring makikipag-ugnayan sa mga awtoridad,” he said.

(We are here to formalize our complaint against the alleged gunman of my brother Percy Lapid. We expect that this will progress immediately and we continue coordinating with the authorities.)

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—With reports from Johnson Manabat and Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News