Court clears Red Kapunan in Olalia, Alay-Ay killings

Eduardo “Red” Kapunan

A local court has dismissed the double murder charge against a retired military officer accused of masterminding the killing of labor leader Rolando Olalia and his driver Leonor Alay-Ay almost 30 years ago.

Judge Marie Claire Mabutas-Sordan of the Antipolo Regional Trial Court Branch 98 granted the demurrer to evidence filed in February by Eduardo “Red” Kapunan, in effect acquitting the former Air Force lieutenant colonel.

In an eight-page ruling issued on Wednesday, Sordan echoed the findings of another judge who earlier handled the case, saying there was “no clear evidence” that Kapunan ordered the abduction and killing of Olalia and Alay-Ay.

The two victims were found dead in Antipolo on Nov. 13, 1986. Olalia’s eyes were  gouged out, his hands were bound, and his mouth was stuffed with newspaper. Kapunan earlier admitted ordering a surveillance on Olalia but denied having a hand in the killings.

Much of Sordan’s ruling quoted Judge Ma. Consejo Gengos-Ignalaga, who in October 2013 allowed Kapunan to post bail. Ignalaga then ruled that the alleged conspiracy between Kapunan and the other accused was not clearly established by the prosecution.

“It only stands to reason that just as before, the court finds the evidence against the accused Kapunan not strong enough. Certainly not strong enough for the court to declare that the court has proven the guilt of accused Kapunan beyond reasonable doubt,” Sordan said.

“The way the court sees it, after reviewing yet again the records of these cases, based on evidence presented, the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused Kapunan beyond reasonable doubt,” she added. “No additional evidence was presented by the prosecution which might have tilted the balance in its favor or which could have weighed heavily against accused Kapunan.”

 Hornbook doctrine

A portion of the ruling quoting Ignalaga read: “While accused Kapunan was not placed at the scene of the abduction and killing of [Olalia and Alay-ay] on Nov. 12 and 13, 1986, the information alleges conspiracy among all the accused in the killing of the victims.

“It is hornbook doctrine that conspiracy must be proven by positive and convincing evidence, the same quantum of evidence as the crime itself…. After carefully evaluating the evidence thus far presented, and delving on the innocence of the accused… the court finds that conspiracy of Kapunan in the killing of Olalia and Alay-ay has not been clearly established.”

After granting Kapunan bail, Ignalaga inhibited herself from the case—as demanded by the victims’ families—and Sordan took over.

The dismissal of the case on Wednesday came as a shock to lawyer Edre Olalia, a cousin of the slain labor leader and secretary general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.

“It’s distressing and frustrating,” said Olalia, whose group served among the private prosecutors in the double murder case.

“How could lowly sergeants do [the killings] without anybody telling them what to do?” Olalia said, referring to then Sergeants Medardo Barreto and Eduardo Bueno, whom he described as “active participants” in the crime who later turned prosecution witnesses.

He recalled the court testimonies given by the two witnesses, including statements that Kapunan allegedly ordered Barreto to place the labor leader under surveillance, funded the vehicle used for the abduction, and gathered 13 other people to tell them not to “squeal (kumanta).”

“So it baffles me why these (testimonies) were not given any weight,” Edre Olalia said in an interview.

Olalia said three more men accused in the case remained in detention: former Sergeants Desiderio Perez,  Dennis Jabatan and  Fernando Casanova.

 ‘You take the fall’

Rolando Olalia

“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.

Kapunan, a member of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, took the stand in his own defense in April 2013.

He admitted to conducting a surveillance on Olalia when he was head of an intelligence unit under the Department of National Defense, but said this was only to affirm or debunk reports that the Corazon Aquino government at the time had strong ties with the Left.

He maintained, however, that he did not personally know Olalia and knew him only through newspaper reports. At one point, he said, he even asked Barreto, who served as one of the prosecution witnesses in previous hearings, to help Edger Sumido, another accused in the double murder, in “trailing” Olalia.

In September 1986, Kapunan said, he was transferred to the General Headquarters Brigade to organize a new anti-hijacking force. He said he was ordered transferred because the then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile had been removed from office and he and the rest of his men were “identified” with Enrile.

As soon as he got the order, he ordered “all surveillance [and operations] terminated.”

“I will admit to the surveillance portion, but to the [abduction, slay, coverup], they are all lies,” Kapunan then told the court.