Guardians behind Olayvar slay?

THE Guardians Brotherhood is split into three factions and one of these could be behind the Sept. 7 killing of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)- Bohol chair Victor Olayvar. This is still another angle Sr. Supt. Arturo Evangelista, Bohol police provincial director, will look into after former Provincial Board member Felix Rengel bared this during Wednesday's Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting presided over by Gov. Erico Aumentado at the Pres. CPG Hall of the Capitol. But Philippine Guardians' Brotherhood Incorporated Spokesperson Prote and lawyer Salvador Diputado called the Rengel accusations unfair and sweeping. In the ongoing investigations conducted by the government and the militant organizations as clueless, “it is therefore very unfair and Unchristian for Mr. Rengel to level unfounded accusations against PGBI,” Diputado bared. Fresh from a series of meetings in Manila , Aumentado went to the meeting straight from the Tagbilaran City airport to hear the report of Task Force Olayvar and the PPOC Fact-Finding Committee headed by Romeo Teruel, his chief of staff, on Olayvar's slay.

Olayvar succumbed to four gunshot wounds in his head and upper body on the fifth day after the Bohol Local Peace Forum (LPF) convened on Saturday, Sept. 2 at the Governor's Mansion. Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak, administrator of the Diocese of Tagbilaran and Aumentado co-chair the LPF. Rengel, an organizer of the local Bayan chapter was the lone representative of cause-oriented groups the governor asked the PPOC Secretariat to invite. Rustica Mascariñas, provincial director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG-Bohol) here heads the Secretariat.

Fr. Feliciano Nalzaro Jr., convenor of the Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR) only sent a letter to Aumentado asking that his letter and attachments be read during the meeting. Rengel who attended the wake, the rally in front of the Capitol that shouted eulogies for Olayvar on their way to Panglao where the victim had lived – and the burial – said he was saddened by the incident. On the Guardians' breaking into factions, he said he got insights from a “retired general in the [Army] Reserve [Force]” that this “suspect” faction “is riding on the trend of political killings.” He also said the personalities behind the Mata na Bol-anon Movement (MBM) should be exposed – they could be vigilantes and might turn out to be a “monster.” Rengel presented to the council a sheet of propaganda material signed by the MBM. He said he got it from Olayvar's wake at the funeral home. The material suggested that Olayvar was, among others, a double agent.

Angles

Two days after Olayvar's death, Evangelista was entertaining five angles in the killing. The angles were down to three during the PPOC meeting, not counting Rengel's expose yet. In his Powerpoint presentation, Evangelista said Task Force Olayvar has been receiving text messages to the effect that the deceased was a double agent, that he was punished for insubordination and that he was “undesirable” to the organization. “These messages however will not stand in court unless reduced to sworn statements properly subscribed or notarized,” he said. The evidence so far gathered could not establish that the uniformed service perpetrated the assassination. The task force could not as yet pinpoint the New People's Army as having a hand in the senseless killing. This leaves the police with just “the other group” out to destroy the gains of the progress and tranquility enjoyed by the Boholanos and now copied by other provinces.

The group could be out for revenge, or used to avenge the NPA atrocities caused by the Hugpong sa mga Mag-uumang Bol-anon (Humabol) then headed by Olayvar, and taking advantage of the national trend of extra-judicial killings victimizing leaders of militant groups as cover. “But neither the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or the Philippine National Police (PNP) nor the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front will gain from the killing. In the absence of a motive from either, this leaves the task force with an individual with ulterior motive,” Evangelista said.

From the evidence, accounts and documents collected, the task force is now focusing on the nearest angle – the perpetrators come from a notorious family in Danao town whose relative was executed by the NPA in 2001 on the complaint of Humabol. Members of this family have been charged in court and warrants issued for their arrest for harassment, frustrated murder and frustrated homicide that victimized Humabol members in the barangay. “The evidence so far is not yet sufficient to link two of the three suspects. The task force will file the case in due time once all the necessary documents and evidence are collated and thoroughly evaluated to establish a prima facie case of murder,” Evangelista said.

Brigade observations

For his part, Col. Arthur Tabaquero in his report said the CPP-NPA-NDF directed Front Committees from other regions to assist in the recovery work in Bohol . Recent enemy activities indicate the possible tactical offensive against weak outposts to refute President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address pronouncement that the government is winning the insurgency war in Bohol. He said the communist terrorist movement continues to thrive in Bohol because of extortion activities and that the convergent efforts of the provincial government under Aumentado paved the way for the clearing of guerilla fronts from five in 2001 5o only one in 2006.

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