The Antipolo Regional Trial Court Branch 97 has dismissed the double murder case against former Air Force Lt. Col. Eduardo “Red” Kapunan, in effect acquitting him of the death of labor leader Rolando Olalia and his aide Leonor Alay-Ay in 1986.
This, after Antipolo RTC Branch 97 Judge Marie Claire Mabutas-Sorda granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Kapunan.
A demurrer to evidence is in effect a motion to dismiss filed by the accused after the prosecution finishes its presentation of evidence. It is anchored on the ground that the evidence presented is insufficient.
Co-accused Sgts. Desiderio Perez, Dennis Jabatan and newly arrested Fernando Cassanova, however, will remain behind bars.
The court granted bail to Kapunan a year after he surrendered in 2012.
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Olalia’s cousin, Atty. Edre Olalia, secretary general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), said the court’s decision was “distressing and frustrating.”
“The message is clear: lowly soldiers should not follow illegal orders from superiors because they will walk free (and) you take the fall,” Olalia said.
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NUPL and the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) are acting as private prosecutors in the case.
Olalia and Alay-ay were found dead in Antipolo on Nov. 13, 1986./rga