DOJ chief cool to reopening of Aquino-Galman case

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said yesterday that only new and overwhelming evidence would warrant the reopening of the Aquino-Galman double murder case.

He said nothing and nobody has come forward with new evidence on the assassination of Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and the killing of Aquino’s alleged assassin, Rolando Galman - not even the 15 soldiers of the defunct Aviation Security Command (Avsecom) jailed for the murders.

"I would be happy if the case could be reopened to ferret out the truth," Gonzalez said. "Personally, I consider this an unsolved crime. I know this case like the palm of my hand."

However, he said the Aquino-Galman double murder is not a priority case for the Department of Justice because "it’s a long shot."

He met with former M/Sgt. Pablo Martinez at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) last year because he thought the soldiers may have something new to say, however, Martinez merely reiterated the story he had 20 years ago, Gonzalez said.

"(Martinez) said he knew something but he would not tell me," he said. "What he knew was something I had known 20 years ago. I will consider it new evidence if it was not known to us before."

Gonzalez was the first prosecutor to handle the case when he was Tanodbayan (now Ombudsman) during the Aquino administration and a member of the different commissions that investigated the double murder case.

While he admitted that he was aware that some of the Avsecom soldiers were merely victims of circumstance, he added that he is sure some of them knew beforehand that the murders would be committed.

Without fresh and overwhelming evidence and witnesses, Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta cannot seek the reopening of the case.

The convicted soldiers did not testify during the trial upon the advice of their lawyers. Gonzalez said that, because the case "has political undertones, only the President can decide" whether or not to grant these soldiers a pardon of the two life sentences handed down to each of them. — Aurea Calica