Aquino-Galman slay soldiers continue quest for justice

The convicted killers of Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and Rolando Galman, his military-tagged assassin, have not given up their quest to have the Supreme Court reopen the 22-year-old case and grant them a new trial, the National Penitentiary chaplain said yesterday.

In an interview with The STAR, Monsignor Robert Olaguer said the Public Attorney’s Office, along with families and supporters of the 15 soldiers, started a signature campaign last week to push the filing of a motion for reconsideration before the Supreme Court.

"We are receiving enormous response for this campaign," he said.

"A few days ago, students from several colleges and universities in Metro Manila visited us here, and we got hundreds of them to sign the petition with just a simple explanation of the case."

Olaguer said they learned three weeks ago that "pressure from an interested party" had "influenced" the comment filed before the Supreme Court by the Office of the Solicitor General.

"They (the soldiers) were really upset," he said. "The soldiers depended on the PAO’s arguments to get through the appeal, but as expected the SC favored the SolGen."

Olaguer said the forensic experts and volunteers who had pursued the reopening of the case were also frustrated by the tribunal’s decision.

"Halos mapaiyak sila (They almost cried)," he said. "These are the people who stayed up until 12 midnight working on establishing new evidence."

The PAO had tapped forensic experts, among them a University of the Philippines professor, to investigate the trajectory of the bullet that killed Aquino.

Forensic experts found that the fatal bullet had come from the alleged location of Galman when Aquino was shot dead at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport.

Senior Police Officer 4 Ruben Cantimbuhan, the driver of the van that took Aquino’s body to Fort Bonifacio, also swore in an affidavit before chief public attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta that he saw Galman shoot the former senator.

Military lawyers prevented Cantimbuhan from testifying during the trial, PAO lawyers said.

Convicted in the Aquino-Galman murder case are: former Capt. Romeo Bautista; former 2Lt. Jesus Castro; former sergeants Claro Lat, Arnulfo de Mesa, Filomendo Miranda, Rolando de Guzman, Ernesto Mateo, Rodolfo Desolong, Ruben Aquino, and Arnulfo Artates; former m/sgt. Pablo Martinez; former constable 1st class Rogelio Moreno; and former airmen 1st class Cordova Estelo, Felizardo Taran, and Mario Lazaga.

During the trial, Moreno was singled out as the one who shot Aquino.

Martinez said he will identify the mastermind of the murder if the Supreme Court reopens the case and allows a new trial.

Last March 7, the tribunal rejected the soldiers’ petition to have the case reopened and for a new trial.