`Speed up Javier slay case trial'

SAN JOSE, Antique - President Estrada directed Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas yesterday to move for a speedy trial on the case of the 1986 assassination of former Antique governor Evelio Javier.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon said the President was "concerned about the delay" in the case and the injustice this brings to the people of Antique.

Javier was brutally murdered on Feb. 11, 1986 while overseeing the counting of votes from the snap presidential elections. Former Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador, a henchman of the late former President Marcos, stands trial as the alleged mastermind of the killing.

The trial began in 1987 but was stopped in 1989 when the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order.

The TRO was lifted on July 19 last year, and the trial resumed on Aug. 29. Pacificador surrendered in March 1995.

Javier's eldest son Gideon, who was 16 years old when the killing occurred, said it is unfortunate that they will commemorate his father's 14th death anniversary on Feb. 11 with the case still with the court.

But he expressed confidence that "justice will be served," saying he will only be at peace when Pacificador is finally found guilty of killing his father.