APO frat to DOJ: Charge us in court, not in media

The Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity dared Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima to file charges against its members in court, not in the media, for their alleged involvement in three campus bombings. Criticizing what it calls "trial by publicity," APO spokesman Ferdinand Ramos issued the statement as he insisted their internal investigation showed their members were not involved in the incidents. “Sa halip na kundenahin kami, just charge us kung may ebidensya sila, ganoon din naman. Doon din naman pupunta yan. Ano ba ang paguusapan namin kung totoo yan?" Ramos said in an interview on dwIZ radio on Wednesday. (Instead of condemning us through publicity, just charge us if they have evidence. It will end up before the courts, anyway. What is there to talk about if our members are really involved.) On Tuesday, De Lima said there was a connection between the September 26 Bar exam blast outside the De La Salle campus in Manila and grenade attacks at the La Consolacion College in Manila in 2008 and the University of Perpetual Help (UPH) in Las Piñas City in March 2010. Ramos questioned De Lima for linking the APO fraternity to the incidents without naming the suspects, saying it puts APO in a bind of sorts. Ramos branded as “guesswork" the National Bureau of Investigation’s reported findings linking APO to grenade attacks in two campuses in Metro Manila in 2008 and March 2010. He said it was interesting that the NBI linked APO to the incidents barely a week after being ordered by De Lima to probe the incidents. “Wala pang isang linggo lumabas sa baraha ng paghuhula ng NBI na APO pala ang involved diyan. E si Madam Leila, hindi ko alam kung manghuhula ito," he said. (In less than a week, the soothsayers at the NBI linked the APO to the incidents. I do not know Madam Leila is a soothsayer herself.) “Nag-imbestiga kami, lumalabas wala ni isa sa amin nagbomba roon. Sino ang pipiliin namin? Anong gagawin namin? Parang raffle ang 150,000 members namin, sinong mabunot na dalawa isuko?" he said. (Our own investigation showed none of our members were involved in the incidents. If the DOJ will not name names, what will we do? Do we hold a raffle among our 150,000 members and surrender the two unlucky members whose names will be drawn.) “Sabi niya mag-cooperate kami, isuko ang dalawa. Hindi in-identify sa amin sino ang dalawa. Ano ba naman ito, sino isusuko namin? Paano kami mag-cooperate di nila sinasabi sino isusuuko namin? Palagi kami kinakasuhan sa media, media lang ang pagsasabihan nila APO ang suspect may dalawang suspect," he added. (She told us to cooperate. But she did not name the two supposed suspects. So who will we surrender to them? That’s the problem with them, they charge us through media.) Frat wars? At a news briefing on Tuesday, De Lima said there was a "connection" between three campus bombings — outside La Salle (September 2010); UPH (March 2010), and La Consolacion (2008). However, she refused to say whether fraternity wars sparked the three incidents. "May I just say for now they (the three blasts) are connected... The authors are connected. We don't want to emphasize the frat war angle. If our investigation is complete, including that for the two previous incidents, then we can already disclose the motive," De Lima told reporters. Asked to confirm whether the APO fraternity was responsible for the two other blasts, De Lima categorically replied, "Yes." On Tuesday, De Lima also issued an ultimatum to the two other suspects in the September 26 grenade explosion outside the De La Salle University campus. Earlier, the DOJ linked an APO member, Anthony Nepomuceno, to the September 26 blast. Nepomuceno denied the charges against him. Ramos said Vice-President Jejomar Binay, a member of APO, was “saddened" over the linking of the APO to the incidents. –VVP, GMANews.TV