Raps filed vs suspects in Olayvar slay dropped

The Office of the Provincial Prosecutor (OPP) has dismissed the cases filed against four people in connection with the murder of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) provincial chair Victor Olayvar last Oct. 13. In a six-page resolution prepared by Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Eric Ucat, the prosecutor found no sufficient evidence to warrant the filing of the murder raps against suspects Marlo and Virgo Betasa, Neil Logrono and Roldan Torres. Ucat noted that Task Force Olayvar which was tasked to solve the killing of the militant peasant leader did not present any witness to support its allegations against the four suspects. Habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) driver Joselito Ayag, who implicated the four men in two affidavits that became the basis for the filing of the charges was not presented to substantiate his allegations. Ucat noted that Ayag did not even provide descriptions for the cartographic artist that made his claims doubtful.

The resolution was approved by Provincial Prosecutor Toribio Quiwag. The early morning murder of Olayvar was condemned by various sectors in the community including the Roman Catholic hierarchy which came out with a scathing rebuke of the failure of law enforcers to solve the crime. Olayvar's family and comrades doubted the police version of the killing from the start, noting that the killers who were in the vicinity of the ambush a day earlier were unknown to the residents. Bayan-Bohol secretary-general John Ruiz III noted that it is ridiculous that it had to take Ayag, who is not from Danao, to identify the notorious Betasa brothers who have been involved in cattle-rustling and other criminal activities.

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