Forgiveness

Critically ill or not, the 13 former soldiers still in prison for the Aquino-Galman murders are likely to rot behind bars forever, or at least until 2010.

Former sergeant Pablo Martinez was the only one who identified a possible mastermind, and he was the one who was pardoned and freed on humanitarian grounds.

The son and namesake of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. brushed aside Martinez’s claim that businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. was the brains behind the assassination. The story was implausible, said Noynoy Aquino, himself now a senator.

Cojuangco, a first cousin of Ninoy’s widow, former President Corazon Aquino, was so close to the Marcoses he was on the US military plane that flew Ferdinand and Imelda to exile in Honolulu following their ouster in the 1986 people power revolt. But Cojuangco’s camp has consistently and strongly denied any involvement in the killings of Aquino and Rolando Galman, and so far, no one has presented solid evidence to refute the denial.

The slain senator’s heirs reportedly want the soldiers convicted of the twin murders to first tell the truth before they are pardoned. The truth can be taken to mean an admission that it was one of the soldiers and not Galman who shot Aquino, as well as the identity of the brains.

For the bereaved who still await justice, the demand at least for the truth makes sense. Cory Aquino has long voiced her belief that her husband could not have been assassinated without the knowledge of the Marcos dictatorship.

But after more than 20 years behind bars — in detention during their trial, and then imprisonment upon conviction – all the 14 surviving former members of the Aviation Security Command (or Avsecom, now defunct) have stuck to their story, that it was Galman who pulled the trigger that killed Ninoy at the tarmac of what was then the Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983.

A 15th convict, who was killed about a year ago in a prison riot at the national penitentiary, died without changing his story.

To this day the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) insists that the convicts are telling the truth to the best of their knowledge.

Several quarters, including people known to be close to Cory Aquino, have pointed out that the convicts were too low in the military totem pole to have known who might have ordered the hit. They point out that the implementation of such operations, especially in dictatorships, tends to be highly compartmentalized, with the mastermind(s) being guaranteed anonymity or at least deniability.

Fabian Ver, Marcos’ cousin and military chief, would have known the truth, but Ver took all the Marcos secrets to the grave.

Gen. Prospero Olivas, who headed the constabulary Metropolitan Command, which handled the investigation of the twin murders, and Avsecom chief Brig. Gen. Luther Custodio, the highest ranking military officer convicted of the murders, also died without changing their stories.

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Yesterday the head of the PAO reportedly submitted to Noynoy Aquino the forensic findings of an independent body from the University of the Philippines, which bolster the soldiers’ claim that it was, indeed, Galman, tagged by the Marcos regime as a communist hired gun, who killed Ninoy.

The PAO has taken its case directly to Noynoy because the Arroyo administration has made it known that after the release of Martinez, it would heed the sentiments of Ninoy’s heirs when it comes to the 13 other soldiers.

An administration with more credibility would have confidence in deciding on its own who deserves executive clemency on humanitarian grounds.

The PAO has presented certifications from health authorities about the debilitating illnesses afflicting all 13 convicts. The 13 have spent enough time behind bars to be eligible for clemency.

There is no rule anywhere that requires the green light from a victim or his heirs to grant executive clemency to a deserving inmate.

After more than two decades behind bars, it is presumed that inmates have been rehabilitated enough to quality for return to the social mainstream. More than punishment, rehabilitation is supposed to be the principal goal of modern penology.

But because in this country, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, politics is taken into consideration even in the grant of executive clemency.

Seeing how much Ninoy’s heirs were offended by the release of Martinez, the administration is not taking any chances with 13 more. Especially with the anniversary of the original people power revolt just over a month away, amid continuing reports of destabilization, and with deposed President Joseph Estrada aligning himself with Cory Aquino.

Also, the number 13, as superstitious folks like Erap our 13th president believe, can really be unlucky.

Cory Aquino has said she has forgiven her husband’s killers. Unless she makes it clear that forgiveness can translate into freedom for the 13, Malacañang is likely to just toss this hot potato to the next administration.