MANILA, Philippines A pardoned convict in the murder of Benigno Ninoy" Aquino Jr appealed to the Aquino family on Thursday to pardon his fellow colleagues still languishing in prison, saying they had nothing to do with the former senators assassination.
During his visit to the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, former Master Sergeant Pablo Martinez also asked the Aquino family to forgive him, even as he maintained the Marcos governments line that Aquinos killer was alleged communist hitman Rolando Galman.
Pamilyang Aquino po,muli humihingi ako ng kapatawaran. Hinihingi ko rin po ang kalayaan nitong aking mga kasamahan na narito. Hindi ko hinihingi na patawarin po ninyo sila dahil wala silang kasalanan. Ako ang humihingi ng kapatawaran dahil may kasalanan ako (I am asking forgiveness from the Aquino family, not for my colleagues because they are not at fault, but for myself. It was I who sinned. What I am asking in behalf of my colleagues is that they be freed), Martinez said in an interview aired over QTVs Balitanghali.
Martinez who was freed in 2007 when he reached the age of 70 claimed he was the escort of Galman. He said his sin was escorting Galman to the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport (MIA) so that Galman could accomplish his mission of killing Aquino.
Martinezs visit to the prison where he was incarcerated for 24 years was the first since he was released in November 2007.
He shook hands with his fellow convicts and embraced them, but some who resented Martinezs pardon refused to return the gesture, according to the report.
The report also quoted convict Ernesto Mateo as saying they have long forgiven Martinez.
Mateo said they no longer carry resentments toward the freed former soldier because Martinez has already admitted to his crime, the report added.
Public Assistance Offfice (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta echoed the call for the convicts pardon, saying they have long been qualified for release.
The report quoted Acosta as saying they had spent 25 years in prison and had seven to eight years for good conduct time allowance, meaning they have already completed 32-33 years of their sentence.
The maximum number of years for reclusion perpetua is 30 years, said the report.
Senator Benigno Noynoy" Aquino III, son of the late senator, however, said they will not endorse the pardon of the convicts until they confess to the murder.
But 25 years after Aquinos death, the convicts still maintain that they did not kill the late senator.
Rolando de Guzman, another convict who claimed that he gunned down Galman moments after the latter supposedly killed Aquino, tearfully recounted the August 1983 murder.
Ginawa ko yung trabaho ko. Akala ko medalya. Pagkakulong pala (I did my job. I thought I would get a medal. But I was imprisoned instead)," said De Guzman, who has been bedridden for a year after suffering from two strokes.
De Guzman is one of the soldiers sentenced to life imprisonment for the Aquino-Galman double murder case in August 1983 at the then Manila International Airport.
While admitting that he escorted Gaalman, Martinez has also not divulged who ordered the assassination, which the Aquino family and friends of the late senator continue to blame on then dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Ninoy Aquino, a fast-rising star of the opposition in the early 70s, was considered the biggest threat against Marcos ambitions to become a ruler for life. Aquino was said to be one of the first man arrested and thrown in jail when Marcos placed the country under martial rule on Sept. 22, 1972.
To protest his continued detention on rebellion charges and other charges, Aquino went on hunger strike, placing the Marcos government in the spotlight. He subsequently became ill, even suffering a heart attack. Apparently fearful of the backlash should Aquino die in prison, Marcos allowed his nemesis to go on exile to the United States on May 8, 1980.
Aquino later resumed his attacks against the Marcos regime while on exile and insisted on returning to the Philippines, despite objections by the government, saying the country has to be saved from further destruction in the hands of the dictator. Using a passport bearing the name Marcial Bonifacio, Aquino returned home on board a China Airlines flight from Hong Kong on August 21, 1983.
As the plane landed at the NAIA, members of the militarys Aviation Security Command (Avsecom) picked him up from his seat and brought him down the tarmac. Moments later, shots rang out and Aquinos body was found sprawled on the tarmac, side by side with Galmans.
Aquinos murder galvanized opposition to the Marcos regime, culminating in a military-backed people power revolution" that ended the dictatorship on Feb. 25, 1986.
To honor the murdered political leader on his 25th death anniversary on Thursday, former President Corazon Aquino, along with former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, family members and friends commemorated attended mass at the Manila Memorial Park in ParaDaque where Ninoy Aquinos remains have been buried. - GMANews.TV