With the legal
proceedings continuing to show signs of being used by the military and
government to clear the names of accused military officials, Elmer “Bong”
Labog, KMU chairperson, dared Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan to admit his
role in the ultra-rightist plot of Rebulsyong Alyansang Makabayan or RAM to
kidnap, torture, and kill Rolando Olalia and Leonor Alay-ay. “As the 27-year
quest for justice of former KMU chairperson and respected labor leader Olalia
and his aide and labor activist Alay-ay continues, we dare Sen. Honasan to
admit his role and submit to people’s revolutionary justice,” Labog said.
The hearing for the
Olalia- Alay-ay double murder case resumes tomorrow, 23 April 2013, 2:30 in the
afternoon, as Ret. Col. Eduardo "Red" Kapunan takes the witness stand
at Antipolo Regional Trial Court 98.
“It is clear that the
special protection being given to principal-suspect Ret. Air Force Col. Eduardo
Kapunan who was placed in military custody by the court, despite the militant
demand of KMU for him to be placed in police custody, is to pressure his former
comrades-in-arms to toe the revolting party line of the ruling clique composed
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, its reactionary patrons Senators Juan
Ponce Enrile and Gringo Honasan, as they support the neoliberal, anti-labor
policies of the Aquino regime,” he added.
“That is why from the
start we expressed doubt over the courts’ and the government’s sincerity. The
April 16, 2013 statement of former Sergeant turned state-witness Eduardo Bueno
in the Antipolo Regional Trial Court, that Honasan was the commanding officer
of the Special Operations Group (SOG) when the killings occurred, is merely a ruse
to give the appearance of progress in the case,” Labog said.
“The truth is, the
so-called surrender of Kapunan, and the new testimony against Honasan, is all
designed to deny the toiling masses even the appearance of so-called bourgeois
justice. In the end, no direct evidence against Honasan will be provided,
Kapunan will be given immunity as a so-called state-witness, and the repression
of the laboring class will continue,” Labog revealed.
“Instead of denying his
guilt, Honasan must face justice from the people and we call on all people’s
organizations to impose the true verdict he deserves from the Filipino workers
and people,” he warned.
