Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Issue No. 27                        August 19-25,  2001                    Quezon City, Philippines

Ilocos peasant detainees released

By bulatlat.com / northern dispatch

BANGUED, Abra --- The Regional Trial Court Branch 2 here freed two peasant leaders who were initially implicated in the 1999 slay of renegade rebel leader Conrado Balweg.

Eduardo Cacayuran and Avelino Dacanay were released from the Abra Provincial Jail last August 10 after Judge Corpus Christi Alzate found no sufficient evidence linking them to the murder case.

Provincial Prosecutor Rodor Gayao recommended the release of the two after he reinvestigated their possible involvement, based on the request of the peasant leaders' lawyers Charles Juloya, Jose Molintas and Reynaldo Cortes. The last two lawyers are members of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).

Cacayuran and Dacanay, both leaders of farmers' and fisherfolk groups based in La Union province, were arrested July 7 and 11, respectively, by joint elements of the La Union Provincial Office and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The two were suspected by the police to have taken part in Balweg's killing. A murder case had been filed last year by Balweg's widow Corazon against 20 people --- most of them belonging to various Ilocos-based non-government organizations and Church groups.

Before Cacayuran's and Dacanay's arrest, three of those included in the original charge sheet had been arrested but later released.

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