Witness reveals slain Bayan Muna leader’s ties with communist rebels

CEBU — A witness to the killing of the Bohol chapter president of the militant group Bayan Muna, who will be laid to rest tomorrow, has revealed his alleged intricate connection to the underground movement.

Joselito Ayag, who drove the motorcycle Bayan Muna leader Victor Olayvar was riding on the day he was slain, said the victim had told him that they would go to a place to pick up firearms.

In an affidavit, Ayag disclosed the "unwitting connection" between Bayan Muna, Hugpong sa mga Mag-uumang Bol-anon (Humabol) and the communist insurgents’ shadow government.

Insisting that he was not coerced when he signed the affidavit before city prosecutor Adriano Montes, Ayag said the clandestine trip that led to Olayvar’s death on Sept. 7 was to account for firearms allegedly entrusted to Bayan Muna members for safekeeping.

Months ago, the military revealed that they had confiscated high-powered firearms and ammunition from the houses of members of the militant group.

Army spokesman Lt. Allexson Domingo earlier said a rebel returnee helped them recover the high-powered firearms.

In his affidavit, Ayag said Olayvar told him about the arrival of a caliber .60 machinegun smuggled into Bohol by a supporter.

"He further revealed that one of their purposes in going to Danao is to verify if the firearms kept by our movement there are still intact," stated the affidavit which Ayag executed a day after Olayvar was killed.

According to Ayag, Olayvar was informed that a certain Nanay Adie, a member of the underground movement who had surrendered to the military, exposed the location of the firearms, leading the military to confiscate them.

Ayag added that the firearms were entrusted to Tatay Pedoy, a Humabol leader in San Carlos, Danao.

Tatay Pedoy, or Alfredo Bingas, is the press relations officer of the Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma sa San Carlos, a Humabol affiliate in Danao.

Ayag said he decided to speak up when he noticed that he was being abandoned by the underground movement’s leaders despite the fact that he had made up stories just to break the connection between Olayvar’s killing and the underground movement.

However, Olayvar’s colleagues in the militant movement denied that he was involved in the armed rebel movement.

Tomorrow, Olayvar’s family members and relatives, colleagues in the progressive movement and friends from different government agencies and local government units will hold a protest march.

Panglao Mayor Doloriech Dumuluan and other public officials are expected to attend Olayvar’s burial to pay their last respects to him. — Freeman News Service