No justice yet in Evelio slay

SAN JOSE, Antique — Fifteen years ago today, at about 10:45 a.m., a white Nissan patrol carrying six armed men in fatigue and camouflage attire stopped in front of the provincial capitol here where election canvassers were counting the votes in the Feb. 7, 1986 snap presidential elections, from the province’s 18 towns.

As campaign manager of Corazon Aquino in Antique, former governor Evelio Javier was overseeing the canvassing in the plaza.

Two of the armed men opened fire at Javier, hitting him in the back of a shoulder. They then chased him around the plaza, cornering him inside the comfort room of a shop owned by Chinese Leon Pe, 100 meters from where he was first hit. Evelio lay dead with 24 Armalite bullets pumped into his body.

"He was unarmed and helpless when he was killed," recalled Mariano Cabrera, one of the witnesses who was hit by a stray bullet in the leg.

Trial continues

Today, the wheels of justice are still turning, and the alleged mastermind, former assemblyman Arturo Pacificador, and the other accused stand trial for Evelio’s brutal murder.

Pacificador, a close ally of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, turned himself in in March 1995. He is now in the company of co-accused Avelino Javellana, a lawyer; John Paloy, Henry Salaber, Ramon Hortillano, Rolando Bernardino, Eleazar Edemne, Henry and Jose Seguerra and Jimmy Punzalan.

Still at large is Eduardo Iran, alias Boy Muslim, a former Constabulary sergeant who was the alleged main triggerman. Another accused, Pacificador’s son Rodolfo, sought refuge in Canada after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, and has been the subject of extradition talks.

Hortillano, also a former Constabulary member and one of the alleged triggermen, was nabbed in Davao City in October 1999. That same month, Punzalan — tagged as the supplier of the high-powered firearms used in the murder — was arrested in Iloilo City after arriving from Bacolod City.

The trial began in 1987, but was suspended in 1989 after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on claims that the judge handling the case was biased towards the defense.

The TRO was lifted on July 19, 1999, and the trial resumed on Aug. 20 that year.

On Jan. 24 last year, the High Court ordered that Pacificador and Javellana be detained at the Antique provincial jail. The directive was carried out on Feb. 4.

Antiqueños’ fears

Although the accused are now detained, Antiqueños still fear there is still injustice amid reports that Punzalan was frequently seen in Iloilo City and that journalists once saw Javellana out of jail here.

The Supreme Court has reportedly assigned a new judge, Rudy Castrojas, to handle the slay case, replacing Judge Sylvia Jurao.

Evelio’s son, Francis Gideon, 31, said justice would be served if at least five of the accused — Pacificador, his son Rodolfo, Javellana, Iran and Hortillano — are convicted.

Gideon, heading the group "United Antiqueños, recently won the fight against the former Estrada government’s plan to dump Metro Manila’s garbage in Semirara Island. Last month, he told The STAR that he had plans to run for an elective position.