Imee: Let the truth out on Ninoy slay

Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos appealed yesterday to those who had personal knowledge of former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.’s murder — 21 years ago today — to come out and end all speculation about the case.

"Dapat sabihin na nila at iharap sa taong bayan, so that we will know the truth," Marcos told reporters at a forum in Quezon City.

She said her family wanted to know the truth behind the killings of Aquino and his supposed communist assassin, Rolando Galman. It is widely believed that her father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, had ordered Aquino’s assassination.

Marcos refused to comment on the possible reopening of the case, pointing out that only the courts can determine whether any new evidence will merit a reinvestigation.

She said a "cycle" of commemorating "landmark dates" has been going on for the past several years. This cycle begins with the EDSA people power revolts on Jan. 20 and Feb. 25, Aquino’s death anniversary on Aug. 21, her father’s birth anniversary on Sept. 11, the declaration of martial law on Sept. 21, and her father’s death on Sept. 28.

"We call these landmark dates," Marcos said.

She also ruled out speculation that her father ordered the killing of Aquino, claiming it was "a known fact that my father was extremely ill that time" when Aquino was assassinated upon his arrival in the Philippines.

"My father has said, ‘I will be judged by posterity and history,’" Marcos said.

Last Thursday, former President Corazon Aquino said she has no objection to a move by the former soldiers convicted of killing her husband to seek the assistance of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) to reopen the two-decade old case.

Aquino, however, continues to doubt the convicts’ credibility. She said the soldiers wrote her during her presidency, claiming that it was Galman, whom they described as a communist hit man, who killed her husband.

"They insisted that they didn’t kill Ninoy, that it was Galman. That was hard for me to accept because it was not Galman but the escorts," she said.

Aquino also said that forgiveness for the soldiers would happen only if they would admit their culpability.

Her spokeswoman, Deedee Siytangco, said Aquino "stands pat by her statement that they (soldiers) are not credible because until now they have not admitted to killing Ninoy and more so, telling us who masterminded the killing. So it’s very hard to believe them."

Siytangco advised the soldiers to give their statements to the "proper venue, the proper people" such as the PAO and "not only to media so that they would get mileage."

Siytangco reiterated that "deep in our hearts," Filipinos already know who masterminded the twin killings. She expressed hope that the public would "focus on remembering Ninoy for his sacrifice."

Also last Thursday, former master sergeant Pablo Martinez of the defunct Aviation Security Command (Avsecom) executed a sworn statement before PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta that he brought Galman to the Manila International Airport (MIA) to kill Aquino.

Martinez also said the former Avsecom deputy commander Col. Romeo Ochoco and his squadron commander, Capt. Felipe Valerio, could be possible links to the mastermind of the assassination. Both men, however, are now said to be living abroad.

He added that he was also under orders to kill Galman if the latter failed to shoot Aquino.

Earlier this month, the soldiers demanded that they be given a chance to tell their version of the story before Congress. They said they were certain other people would be summoned to corroborate their story if Congress creates a fact-finding committee. They added they will reveal information that had not been raised during the hearings on their case.

Soon after the killings, Marcos created the Agrava Fact-Finding Board, a multi-sectoral group under Presidential Decree No. 1886, to conduct an investigation.

The board submitted two separate reports in 1984. Board chairwoman Justice Corazon Agrava cleared then Armed Forces chief and Marcos’ right hand man, Gen. Fabian Ver, of any involvement in the crime.

But the four other members — Amado Dizon, Ernesto Herrera, Luciano Salazar, and Dante Santos — ruled that the assassination was a military conspiracy and that Ver was possibly involved.

In 1985, a Sandiganbayan decision acquitted Ver and the soldiers.

But the case was re-tried in 1988, when Aquino was already president. Two years later, in a 177-page decision, a Sandiganbayan special division chaired by Associate Justice Regino Hermosisima Jr. convicted the soldiers, including B/Gen. Luther Custodio, the former Avsecom chief, of the murder of Aquino and Galman.

Custodio would have been the highest ranking official and the closest to the Marcoses to be convicted but he died before the promulgation of his sentence.

The court would have meted the death penalty but the Constitution prohibited the imposition of capital punishment. The soldiers are now serving a double life imprisonment sentence.

The soldiers, aside from asking for the case to be reopened, also appealed to President Arroyo to have their sentence commuted after having served 21 years in jail.