KMU hails surrender of Red Kapunan

Ret. Lieutenant Colonel Eduardo “Red” Kapunan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) on Friday hailed the surrender of former Air Force colonel and Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) leader Eduardo “Red” Kapunan, calling it a welcome development in the continuing trial on the case.

Kapunan is one of the principal suspects in the murder of labor leader Rolando “Ka Lando” Olalia and his driver Leonor Alay-ay, whose mutilated bodies were found in Antipolo on Nov. 13, 1986.

“We welcome Kapunan’s surrender,” said KMU chair Elmer “Bong” Labog. “We are glad there are positive developments in the case. Justice must be served for our comrades Ka Lando and Ka Leonor.”

“We hope they will disclose who the mastermind really is in the killing of our comrades as well as other fellow activists who were killed at that time,” he added.

Kapunan surrendered last Saturday following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him by the Antipolo regional trial court last February.

The murders of Olalia, who was then head of the KMU and president of the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), and Alay-ay, were among the more celebrated crimes in the months following the ouster of former President Ferdinand Marcos and the restoration of democracy in February 1986.

The principal suspects in the killings were officers and soldiers belonging to the RAM, whose attempt to oust Marcos was aborted by loyalist troops and sparked the breakaway of then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and then Gen. Fidel Ramos, culminating in Edsa I.