MANILA, 23 November 2007— President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday pardoned one of 16 soldiers convicted for the 1983 assassination of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr..
Master Sgt. Pablo Martinez was pardoned on humanitarian grounds after reaching the age of 70 and was freed from the national penitentiary at Manila’s southern suburb of Muntinlupa, said lawyer Persida Rueda-Acosta of the Public Attorney’s Office.
Martinez has spent 24 years in prison.
Aquino’s assassination at Manila’s international airport was a turning point in Philippine history. It galvanized opposition against then ruling dictator Ferdinand Marcos, leading to the 1986 “people power” revolution in which he was ousted.
Aquino’s alleged assassin, Rolando Galman, was killed by security forces escorting the former senator at that time.
Martinez was among 16 soldiers, including a general, sentenced by the Sandiganbayan special court to serve two life terms for the murder of Aquino and Galman. However, no mastermind was named. All of them maintained that Galman shot Aquino dead.
Aside from Martinez, also convicted of the crime were Brig. Gen. Luther Custodio, Capt. Romeo Bautista, 2nd Lt. Jesus Castro, and Sgts. Claro L. Lat, Arnulfo de Mesa, Filomeno Miranda, Rolando de Guzman, Ernesto Mateo, Rodolfo Desolong, Ruben Aquino and Arnulfo Artates, supposed gunman Constable Rogelio Moreno, M/Sgt. Pablo Martinez, Constable Mario Lazaga, and Airmen 1st Class Cordova Estelo and Felizardo Taran.
Custodio was chief of the military’s Aviation Security Command (Avsecom), which was tasked to secure Aquino. He died of cancer while in prison in 1991. Estelo was stabbed dead in 2005 by another inmate.
Martinez was the first to be set free on humanitarian grounds. The pardon order was signed by presidential Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita for the president.
The Public Attorney’s Office has been seeking the release of the 14 convicts, saying they have been in prison for 24 years and were now entitled to executive clemency.
“I’m happy because I will finally be reunited with my family but I’m also sad because I will be leaving my companions,” said Martinez, who also sought forgiveness from Aquino’s widow Corazon, who took over as president after Marcos’ ouster.
“If you’re listening now, Madame Cory Aquino, please forgive me for my sins.”
In August, Martinez wrote Arroyo a letter asking her for pardon.
“I would like to avail your honor, the existing privilege given to inmates aging 70-years-old and above, who have served their sentence not less than three years (sic),” Martinez wrote.
Martinez took note of the case of former congressman Romeo Jalosjos, who has not yet reached 70 and has served only 10 years in prison for his rape conviction but has been given clemency.
He said being 70 and having served 24 years in jail entitled him to clemency under the Revised Penal Code.
‘Gift of Spite’
Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the only son of the murdered opposition leader, described the pardon as a “gift of spite” by the Arroyo administration ahead of the national hero’s 75th birthday. “What kind of gift is this?... I’m hard put to describe what kind of gift this is that is meant to spite us. That’s how I feel. What’s the point of all of this except to get back at all of us,” Noynoy Aquino said in a phone interview.
“I was surprised although it seemed that nothing this administration does would surprise me anymore. What does it benefit this administration politically,” he said.
The senator, whose father’s birthday is on Nov. 27, said the state should grant this privilege in exchange for some redeeming value. He (Martinez) should have said I have sinned, this is my sin, and I seek forgiveness. These were absent in Martinez’s case,” he said shortly after Arroyo granted the pardon.
Aquino characterized Martinez as the one among his co-convicted with the biggest role in the double murder.
“He was the first to admit and paint a conspiracy... He talked of indoctrination on the necessity of the act and even checks of compliance... He has crafted and re-crafted his story,” Aquino said, adding that even Martinez’s co-convicted point to him as their leader. “Why was he singled out by this administration? What message is being delivered to the whole Filipino nation?” Aquino asked, questioning the timing of the pardon.
Told that the reason given for Martinez’s pardon was the latter’s age of 70, the senator said that Martinez’s crime should be seen in the context of the era when it was committed and the motive for the act.
“The killings were meant to bring the country closer to a bloody civil war. They killed an eminent person who advocated non-violence,” Aquino said.
“(Martinez) is guilty of gambling with the future of the Filipino people and this administration rewards him?” Aquino said, obviously pained by the pardon.
“He should tell us what happened and how it happened so that similar things won’t happen again. 'Yan ang utang niya sa sambayanan (That is what he owes the people),” he went on.
Asked for the reaction of his mother, the senator said although they have not talked about the pardon lengthily, “she is not pleased.” Aquino described the Arroyo administration to be “as dark as martial law” when his father was killed.
“We suffered the greatest deprivation... Walang hustisya (There is no justice),” he lamented. (With reports of Inquirer News Service & Agencies)
