De Lima urged: push for release of detained KMU leader

KMU challenged newly-appointed Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to act for the immediate release of detained KMU leader Vincent “Ka Bebot” Borja in an appeal-picket this morning at the DOJ.

The picket was in time for Ka Bebot’s hearing in a Tacloban court. The hearing was only his second, after more than three years in jail. The judged denied Ka Bebot’s appeal for bail, despite the very weak evidence on his case and the violations of due process in his arrest. 

Borja, a National Council member of the KMU and Anakpawis Partylist’s coordinator for Eastern Visayas, was imprisoned in April 2007, shortly before the election day of that year. 

During a meeting with Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño in the said time, Borja was arrested by elements of the military who were carrying an arrest warrant with the name “Tata Borja” on it – a name which Borja never used. 

“There’s already a double whammy in Ka Bebot’s arrest. First, it is elements of the military who arrested him, not elements of the police. Second, he was served a fake warrant of arrest. These are reasons enough for him to be set free immediately. The only reason he was brought to prison was that the military men were carrying guns,” Ustarez said. 

Borja was forcibly arrested and then slapped with a murder case in which a co-accused died months before the alleged victim did. He was then demonized in the Eastern Visayas local mass media as a ranking member of the New People’s Army.

The so-called witness never appeared in court, causing the trial to drag on. Due to the prosecution’s persistence and the judge’s incompetence, Borja remains imprisoned.

“Our comrade has suffered for so long over what is clearly a fabricated case. He remains a victim of the campaign of political harassment waged by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her military officials.

“We hope Leila De Lima will overturn the grave injustices already suffered by our comrade Ka Bebot. This will be a sign on how she will act on a lot of other injustices done to workers,” Ustarez said.

“Ka Bebot deserves the right to post bail, at the very, very least.” #