Libel to be filed against ambushed labor leader

The leader of the rival union accused of masterminding the ambush of labor leader Antonio Cuizon will file a libel case against the latter this Monday with Earl Bonachita as his counsel.

In an interview over dyRF, Marcos Billones, leader of Agricultural Atlas Miners for Unpaid Employees Association, yesterday said that he will be gathering evidence from news reports over allegations hurled against him by Cuizon, leader of Panaghiusa sa Mamumuo sa Atlas, pointing him to be behind the slay try last Monday morning in sitio Gaway-gaway, barangay Uling, Naga town.

Billones said he already lost his patience after his name is always dropped every time Cuizon is interviewed.

He said that despite grudges he and Cuizon had, having the man killed never came to his mind. He said that whatever dispute they had, he filed cases in court in observance of the appropriate procedure to settle the conflict.

He hopes that at the soonest possible time, the police will arrest the suspects so he can clear his name.

Toledo Police chief Leodegario Acebedo yesterday said that they are still in the process of identifying the suspects behind the slay try against Cuizon since only one of the witnesses, who claimed to have seen the suspects before the incident took place, has shown up at the police station. The other witness is reportedly nowhere to be found.

Acebedo added that for now the police will be concentrating on the union rivalry angle, but will no longer question Billones, expecting his denial

As of yesterday, Cuizon is still confined at the Chong Hua Hospital recuperating from the gunshot wounds. - Flor Z. Perolina