Ifugao court acquits social worker, Piston coordinator of murder

BAGUIO CITY – After five years in a Kiangan town jail, a social worker and a member of a militant transport group were released on Tuesday (Aug. 1), after a court acquitted them of murder in connection with a 2012 clash between the New People’s Army and the Philippine Army in Ifugao province.

Rene Boy Abiva, an employee of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Virgilio Corpuz, a Cagayan Valley coordinator of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (Piston), were linked to the April 2012 encounter at Tinoc town in Ifugao province, which left 10 soldiers dead.

Abiva was arrested on December 28, 2012 while Corpus was nabbed at his home in Santiago City on January 2013. They were charged with 12 counts of murder at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Lagawe, Ifugao by the Philippine Army’s 86th Infantry Battalion and 5th Infantry Division.

“For failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of accused beyond reasonable doubt, judgement is hereby rendered finding [Abiva and Corpuz] not guilty in all of these 12 cases and are therefore, acquitted of all charges for the crime of murder filed against them,” the court said.

The two men returned home to Cagayan Valley.