by Jerome Espinosa Baladad

Created on: November 27, 2009   Last Updated: December 08, 2009

Back in 1983, practically no one among my classmates in my freshman year in the university knew who Ninoy Aquino was, such that when we heard he was assassinated, nobody really bothered to ask who he was. We were among the so-called Martial Law babies, who were born during the long presidency of Ferdinand Marcos from December 1965 to February 1986 - a period that included long years of dictatorship.

As such, we barely could remember that Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. was actually the esteemed leader of the nascent political opposition then in the Philippines (and who was flying back to the country to lead the restoration of democracy after 3 years of exile in the US).

Ninoy Aquino was shot at the tarmac of the international airport in Manila (formerly called Manila International Airport, now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport) on August 21, 1983. Up to now, ordinary people still doubt if those military men who were with Ninoy at the tarmac and who were eventually convicted and imprisoned with life sentence, really did kill Ninoy on that fateful day.

Actually, another man, Rolando "Rolly" Galman was killed by aviation security in the same place and almost at the same time where Ninoy was assassinated.

The Marcos dictatorship soon arranged an independent fact-finding commission after the assassination, which was replaced by another body, most probably to help dispel grave doubts from the public. A year of investigation by the Agrava Fact-Finding Board (as it was headed by a former law school classmate of then-President Marcos, retired Court of Appeals Justice Corazon Agrava) yielded two separate reports, a majority and minority one.

The Chairperson, herself submitted the minority report, that suggested the filing of criminal charges against military personnel, but excluding the then-Chief of Staff General Fabian Ver, a trusted ally of then-President Marcos. The majority report suggested the filing of charges against all military personnel involved, including General Ver.

A subsequent trial for the murder of Ninoy Aquino with the Sandiganbayan, a Constitution-mandated special court that specializes on hearing cases involving government officers and employees, took place. General Ver had to be relieved by then-President Marcos, as he was among those charged for the murder, among other military officers and personnel.

By end of 1985, all the accused were acquitted after a relatively brief trial. General Ver was then re-instated by Marcos to his former post.

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