Convi
cts insist on innocence, offer to find real mastermindMANILA: Ten soldiers jailed for the 1983 murder of Philippine democracy leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino walked free on Wednesday after being granted clemency, officials said.
They were reunited with anxious relatives amid emotional scenes nearly 26 years after their first night at the national penitentiary in the outskirts of Manila, officials and witnesses said.
Aquino, the outspoken arch-foe of then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was gunned down as he arrived from exile in the United States, triggering widespread public outrage.
Anger over his death eventually snowballed into a popular revolt that toppled Marcos from power in 1986 and installed Aquino’s widow, Corazon, as president. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989.
A court convicted 16 soldiers of Aquino’s murder. Two of them died in jail.
The 10 who were freed are Ruben Aquino, Arnulfo Artates, Romeo Bautista, Jesus Castro, Arnulfo de Mesa, Rodolfo Desolong, Claro Lat, Ernesto Mateo, Filomeno Miranda, and Rogelio Moreno.
Former Sergeants Felizardo Taran Jr. and Rolando de Guzman, were released in February, after President Gloria Arroyo granted them clemency for good behavior.
Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta of the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) said the convicts have already served their time in prison—despite their persistent stand that they have nothing to do with the killing of Aquino and Rolando Galman on August 21, 1983, at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport.
Courtesy: MANILA TIMES....more
They were reunited with anxious relatives amid emotional scenes nearly 26 years after their first night at the national penitentiary in the outskirts of Manila, officials and witnesses said.
Aquino, the outspoken arch-foe of then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was gunned down as he arrived from exile in the United States, triggering widespread public outrage.
Anger over his death eventually snowballed into a popular revolt that toppled Marcos from power in 1986 and installed Aquino’s widow, Corazon, as president. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989.A court convicted 16 soldiers of Aquino’s murder. Two of them died in jail.
The 10 who were freed are Ruben Aquino, Arnulfo Artates, Romeo Bautista, Jesus Castro, Arnulfo de Mesa, Rodolfo Desolong, Claro Lat, Ernesto Mateo, Filomeno Miranda, and Rogelio Moreno.
Former Sergeants Felizardo Taran Jr. and Rolando de Guzman, were released in February, after President Gloria Arroyo granted them clemency for good behavior.
Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta of the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) said the convicts have already served their time in prison—despite their persistent stand that they have nothing to do with the killing of Aquino and Rolando Galman on August 21, 1983, at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport.
Courtesy: MANILA TIMES....more
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