MANILA, Philippines — Senator-elect Imee Marcos on Thursday said it was unfair for her to be linked to the 1977 death of Mapua Institute of Technology student Archimedes Trajano.
“Sabi nila, may kinalaman kami sa nangyari, I’m very, very mystified. Ang liliit pa namin and we had no direct… di naman kami naka-employ dyan, wala naman kaming command responsibility or operational command sa mga sundalo or sa mga pulis, so it’s really unfair,” Marcos said in an interview over ANC’s “Headstart.”
Trajano, then a 21-year-old engineering student, supposedly stood at an open forum on Aug. 31, 1977 at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and questioned Marcos’ appointment as Kabataang Barangay head.
Days later, his body was found in the streets of Manila bearing torture marks.
“You know, these are really mysterious accusations, I’m so puzzled by these charges dahil mga bata kami eh, we were what, 15-16 years old, I wasn’t even in the Philippines, I was going to school overseas,” she said.
Marcos was referring to the time when she and her siblings, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Jr. and Irene, were abroad to study during the time of their father, late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ rule.
“Because my father took the position na ‘Okay, I’m going to do this quite fearsome and untried thing, and it’s better if the kids leave,” the incoming senator recalled.
She added that putting the blame on her for Trajano’s death was “illogical.”
“We weren’t even around, we were minors, we were kids, so mahirap namang akusahan kami,” Marcos asserted. (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)