General cleared of Aquino killing

Press, 3 December 1985, Page 10

General cleared of Aquino killing

NZPA-Reuter Manila The Philippines Armed Forces chief, General Fabian Ver, and 25 other accused have been acquitted of involvement in the murder of Opposition leader, Benigno Aquino. The Court, in a ruling that took more than two hours to read, said the overwhelming evidence was that Aquino was shot by Rolando Galman, who was killed by security guards. Earlier in the ruling, the three civilian judges concluded that Aquino, a ■ former Senator, was shot on an airport tarmac. This supported the military version of his death. The Court discounted the testimony of the prosecution’s star witness, a businesswoman, Rebecca Quijano, who said she saw a soldier shoot Aquino, President Ferdinand Marcos’ chief rival, on August 21, 1983. The Court said the evidence showed that Aquino was shot in the back of the head by Galman, who was himself gunned down by the security guards assigned to protect the Opposition Aquino was killed at Man-

ila Airport on his return from three years voluntary exile in the United States.

The Court said the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of General Ver and his 25 co-defendants. All 26 accused were also charged with the murder of Galman who the military immediately named as Aquino’s assassin on August 21, two years ago. “Thank God it’s all over,” General Ver said after the verdict was read in the packed courtroom. About 100 demonstrators outside the courtroom pounded on metal lampposts as three court clerks read the verdict. “It is safer to err in acquitting than in punishing,” the Court said. It said acts attributed to General Ver, who had been accused of covering up the crime, were “not indicative of mischief.”

The verdict was carried live on both Government and private television networks.

President Marcos has said he would reinstate General Ver if he was cleared of the charges. He has been under pres-

sure from the United States to sack the military chief, who is seen by many United States officials as an obstacle to Armed Forces reform.

Recently President Marcos has hinted he may retire General Ver and the acting Armed Forces chief, Fidel Ramos, who is seen as reformist.

The killing of Aquino plunged the Philippines into its worst economic and political crisis since World War 11.

The Court drew parallels between the Aquino murder and the assassinations of President John Kennedy and his brother, Senator Robert Kennedy, and attempts on the life of President Reagan. “Even in the United States, where the most labyrinthine security measures are adopted to safeguard their valued citizens, security sometimes failed,” it said.

Rejecting Rebecca Quijano’s evidence, the Judges noted that she had been charged with offences in Hong Kong and while there she had tried to commit suicide and had undergone

psychiatric examination. It also said she had admitted to “harbouring a feeling of hatred towards the military” because her father had died in military custody. The Court noted that Miss Quijano testified that she had seen Aquino shot on the aircraft steps while escorted by soldiers. Other witnesses said they saw Aquino on the tarmac at the time of the first shot and that the bullet travelled in the wrong direction for it to have been fired from above him.

“As to which account should be believed, our choice cannot but be limited to the one that offered the proof with higher quality, which in this case also happened to be numerically superior,” the Judges said.

No immediate comment on the verdict was made by the United States Embassy, which had been following the Aquino case closely. An embassy observer daily attended the ninemonth inquiry commission hearings as well as the trial, which began on February 22 and ended on September 26.