The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) condemned the assassination of Marlene Esperat, a hard-hitting journalist and a crusader against graft and corruption. She was also a former resident ombudsman for the Department of Agriculture, and filed a slew of corruption charges against officials in the department.  

According to Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general of the group, “Marlene may have ruffled the feathers of many politicians and bureaucrats, but the biggest and most powerful among these is the First Gentleman himself Mike Arroyo. When she also exposed the anomalies perpetrated by the mafia-like institution in the DA, led by Mike Arroyo’s bagman Jocelyn Bolante, who is now in the GSIS, she earned the ire of the group,”

“The people most capable and has the strongest motive to have her silenced is this group. They might have waited for the multi-million peso scams in the department to die down, then proceeded to silence one of their main opponents,” added Ramos.

“Marlene also contacted us regarding the case because she knew that we also filed charges in the ombudsman against former DA secretary Cito Lorenzo and former DA Usec. Jocelyn Bolante, regarding the P432 fertilizer scam in the department, which was used to fund the electoral campaign of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” added the peasant leader.

“On our last conversation last year, she said that she would send all of the documents, proving the crime of this group against the Filipino peasantry, but the documents did not reach us for whatever reason, maybe it was intercepted by the Arroyo group, saw its impact on their careers and business, and also silenced the source. This angle should be investigated thoroughly, and the culprits must pay,” ended Ramos. # # #
 

KMP - 27 March 2005