Saying they had completely lost trust in her impartiality, relatives of slain labor leader Rolando Olalia and his driver Leonor Alay-Ay filed on Tuesday a motion seeking the inhibition of the judge handling the double-murder case.
The filing of the urgent motion by government and private prosecutors in the Antipolo Regional Trial Court Branch 98 came weeks after Judge Ma. Consejo Gengos-Ignalaga allowed one of the accused, Eduardo “Red” Kapunan, to post bail.
This was after the judge noted in her Oct. 18 order that “there was no clear evidence” the retired military colonel and Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) member had directly ordered the abduction and killing of Olalia and Alay-Ay whose bodies were found in Antipolo City in November 1986.
In the 12-page motion to inhibit—a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer—relatives of the victims said they “totally lost trust and confidence” in Ignalaga’s “impartiality and fairness” when she granted Kapunan’s application for bail which they described as an “evidently erroneous and apparently slanted” decision.
They added that it was obvious that she had already prejudged the case when she said that there was “no clear evidence” that the order to abduct and kill the victims came from the accused.
This was despite the fact that in a summary hearing for bail, the evidence presented by the prosecution should show only “evident guilt” or “a great presumption of guilt,” a “quantum of proof” which should “not be viewed in the same light as other quanta of proof under the law,” they said.
They noted that it was “unfathomable” that the court had “overlooked the existence of circumstantial evidence” which was “not only sufficient to prove that the evidence of guilt” against Kapunan was “strong,” but also “sufficient for his conviction.”
As a result, there was “reasonable ground to believe that extraneous or other factors and circumstances other than the overwhelming evidence on record may have come into play” in the court’s decision, they added.
“For which reasons, [we] respectfully but strongly and sincerely believe that it is incumbent upon the presiding judge of this honorable court to inhibit or recuse herself from further handling this case and continuing with its proceedings …” the petitioners said.
Prosecutors last week also asked the court to revoke the bail granted to Kapunan and to order his immediate rearrest. The killings were allegedly a prelude to “God Save the Queen,” a coup plot hatched by RAM against the Aquino government.