Ninoy soldiers’ children seek justice

The masterminds of the Aquino assassination were never brought to justice. The Aquino family has moved on, and the Marcos family has returned from exile in Hawaii.

Meanwhile, the soldiers convicted of the double murder are losing whatever sliver of opportunity they have to share their lives with their families.

With each day that they spend at the New Bilibid Prisons’ maximum security compound, their grip on hope slips.

The soldiers’ children hope that an open letter to "anybody who can help" can set their fathers free, their innocence established in the murders of Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and Rolando Galman.

"For us, the children of the Aquino-Galman case convicts, (Aug. 21) is a day to reminisce why we don’t have a ‘normal family’ — why we didn’t experience the care, guidance and companionship of a father so vital in our formative years," a 21-year-old daughter of one of the soldiers convicted of the murder wrote on behalf of the other children.

While the soldier’s wife gave The STAR the original copy of the letter, she requested that her daughter, who recently earned a degree in economics, remain anonymous to protect her privacy.

The wife also requested anonymity because she still works at a government institution.

"I want to be able to keep my job for my family’s sake," she said.

Most children have fond memories of quality time with their fathers.

The children of the soldiers convicted of the double murder do not have such memories.

What they may instead have are memories of their father’s sad, distant eyes as his family leaves at the end of visiting hours at the New Bilibid Prison’s maximum security compound.

They feel envy every time they see other fathers play with their children on the street or fetch them from school, knowing their own father would never be able to do these things for them.

Humiliation and pain course through these children every time someone asks, "What’s your father’s job?" or "Where is your father?"

These children will always yearn for the sight of their father’s face as they stand on stage to receive their diplomas, knowing that their father would not be there.

These children, all grown up now, just want to feel the weight of their father’s arm around their shoulders, the sunshine warm on their skin, as they sit in a park somewhere.

They want to come home and find their father — now old and probably dependent on them — sitting on the couch, sipping coffee and watching television. Never mind the slippers or the glass of water; his smile is enough to make their day.

The soldier’s wife told The STAR that after 20 years of silence, the families of the other convicted soldiers finally decided it is time to speak up.

When asked why the families did not actively pursue the case before, she replied that they had neither the means nor the resources to make their voices heard by the government.

"The other wives, too, simply concentrated on working to support the children. Some had to go abroad just to augment the family’s income," the soldier’s wife said.

Her daughter wrote in the letter, dated Aug. 17, that she and the other children find solace in the saying that "only great men are imprisoned; look at (Jose) Rizal, Nelson Mandela, and even Ninoy Aquino."

"Although we know that deep inside that we say (this) to keep us sane — to bring us some semblance of hope — that someday the world may view our fathers as innocent," the daughter wrote.

The soldier’s wife denied the belief held by Aquino’s family that the families of those convicted of his murder have been receiving financial support from the one who masterminded the crime.

"We have been struggling to have decent lives the past 20 years," the wife said, tears welling up in her eyes.

The soldiers are now appealing that their two life sentences be commuted. They have already served more than one-third of the time they are supposed to spend in jail.

They have been in detention since the Aquino-Galman murder in 1983. They were acquitted in 1985, were released, but were detained again after the 1986 EDSA revolution.

The Supreme Court declared a mistrial in 1988 and two years later, the Sandiganbayan convicted the soldiers and sentenced them to double life imprisonment.

The Aquino family, in recent interviews, said they opposed the commutation of the soldiers’ sentence because the soldiers still refuse to tell the truth, insisting that it was Galman who shot the senator.

In 1996 and 2002, the soldiers said they had been recommended for commutation of sentences, but nothing happened in either instance and they are confused even over their classification as prisoners.

"We were told we are political prisoners, so we have to apply for amnesty," the soldiers said. "When we considered (doing so), we were told that the government said we are common criminals, so we should just follow the procedure that is being recommended for commutation. Apparently, they just want us to rot here in Bilibid."

The soldiers renewed their appeal to the government to let justice take its course, political pressure notwithstanding.

"While the people in power continue to listen to those who want to keep us locked up, we will not be free. Nothing. The people who plotted (the Aquino assassination) are so happy because, after 20 years, it will all be gone. They will say that this person is the mastermind but he can no longer be arrested because the prescription period has lapsed. They’ll be free," a soldier added.

Former M/Sgt. Pablo Martinez of the defunct Avsecom alleged in 1995 that he brought Galman to the Manila International Airport (MIA) to kill Aquino.

Martinez’s revelation that then Aviation Security Command deputy commander Col. Romeo Ochoco and Capt. Felipe Valerio could be possible links to the mastermind of the assassination did not spur government action on the case, either.

The soldiers believe that Ochoco is the key to unlocking the two-decade old mystery of who masterminded the Aquino assassination.

Ochoco and Valerio, however, were never indicted for the murders and have reportedly fled the country and assumed new identities.

Martinez recalled that Galman himself said that he was being used by a businessman close to the Marcoses.

Martinez also said that, to the best of his knowledge, the businessman was also closely associated with Ochoco, Brig. Gen. Romeo Gatan of the Philippine Constabulary (PC) and millionaire businessman Hermilo Gosuico, Martinez’s co-accused in the case. Gosuico was among those the Sandiganbayan acquitted of the double murder charges in 1990.

Ochoco was also closely associated with former Marcos Armed Forces chief Fabian Ver, he said. Ver died in exile in bangkok, Thailand in 1999.