VACC wants Ninoy’s statue in Makati replaced
January 16, 2006 | 12:00am
Former Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.’s monument along Ayala Avenue should be torn down because "it is an insult to the Philippine military," the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) said yesterday.
VACC chairman Dante Jimenez said that what is supposed to be a work of art that engraves history in stone actually shows soldiers harassing or pushing a hero.
"It is an insult to the military establishment who conducted a legitimate VIP security on the late former senator," he told The STAR.
"This must be corrected," he said, noting that this call also reflects the sentiments of active and retired members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who are also questioning the the way the image was sculpted.
Aquino’s monument stands at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo De Roxas at the heart of the Makati City’s Central Business District (CBD).
It’s immediate vicinity was last year’s venue for at least four huge rallies launched by the opposition forces against the Arroyo administration.
Jimenez, a former navy intelligence operative himself, said the VACC does not understand why those who designed the monument made it look like soldiers were pushing or harassing Aquino.
According to him, the Aquino statue in Makati City is already the second one to be created since the first one, which stood in the very same place four years ago, was also questioned.
The first statue showed Aquino falling down from the stairs of the airplane after being shot supposedly by a soldier from behind. It was allegedly removed and brought to Tarlac and a new one was constructed.
Jimenez said the second monument still tells a bad story since it shows military men who escorted the former senator as his murderers.
"New findings by the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) show that Aquino was not shot by Rogelio Moreno, the soldier behind him, but Rolando Galman, a civilian," he told The Star.
The soldiers who were found guilty of killing Aquino and his assassin, now known as the Aquino-Gaman double murder case, were allegedly convicted because evidence which should have revealed what really transpired on Aug. 21, 1983 was suppressed.
"Fact is, it was not a soldier but a hired gun, a civilian hired by a mastermind," Jimenez explained.
"What’s the use of that statue? Parang sinasaktan siya (He looks like he is being hurt), when in fact, this is a legitimate VIP security detail given to an important person," he stressed.
Jimenez said he has talked to active and retired military men and they are all complaining about the Aquino monument in Makati City because it places the AFP in a bad light.
He stressed that history should be factual and this is the reason why the VACC and PAO are working on the Aquino-Galman double murder case to free those who were wrongly accused of murdering the man who said that "the Filipino is worth dying for."
The convicted soldiers, one of whom was stabbed dead recently, are now being held at the maximum security compound of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
VACC chairman Dante Jimenez said that what is supposed to be a work of art that engraves history in stone actually shows soldiers harassing or pushing a hero.
"It is an insult to the military establishment who conducted a legitimate VIP security on the late former senator," he told The STAR.
"This must be corrected," he said, noting that this call also reflects the sentiments of active and retired members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who are also questioning the the way the image was sculpted.
Aquino’s monument stands at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo De Roxas at the heart of the Makati City’s Central Business District (CBD).
It’s immediate vicinity was last year’s venue for at least four huge rallies launched by the opposition forces against the Arroyo administration.
Jimenez, a former navy intelligence operative himself, said the VACC does not understand why those who designed the monument made it look like soldiers were pushing or harassing Aquino.
According to him, the Aquino statue in Makati City is already the second one to be created since the first one, which stood in the very same place four years ago, was also questioned.
The first statue showed Aquino falling down from the stairs of the airplane after being shot supposedly by a soldier from behind. It was allegedly removed and brought to Tarlac and a new one was constructed.
Jimenez said the second monument still tells a bad story since it shows military men who escorted the former senator as his murderers.
"New findings by the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) show that Aquino was not shot by Rogelio Moreno, the soldier behind him, but Rolando Galman, a civilian," he told The Star.
The soldiers who were found guilty of killing Aquino and his assassin, now known as the Aquino-Gaman double murder case, were allegedly convicted because evidence which should have revealed what really transpired on Aug. 21, 1983 was suppressed.
"Fact is, it was not a soldier but a hired gun, a civilian hired by a mastermind," Jimenez explained.
"What’s the use of that statue? Parang sinasaktan siya (He looks like he is being hurt), when in fact, this is a legitimate VIP security detail given to an important person," he stressed.
Jimenez said he has talked to active and retired military men and they are all complaining about the Aquino monument in Makati City because it places the AFP in a bad light.
He stressed that history should be factual and this is the reason why the VACC and PAO are working on the Aquino-Galman double murder case to free those who were wrongly accused of murdering the man who said that "the Filipino is worth dying for."
The convicted soldiers, one of whom was stabbed dead recently, are now being held at the maximum security compound of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
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