President Benigno Aquino III said on Sunday night he had asked some lawyers to study the possibility of going after people who may have had a hand in the murder of his father but who were never charged for the crime in the past 28 years.
Speaking to reporters after attending an exhibit at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City commemorating the 28th anniversary of the assassination of his father, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., the President acknowledged that the 20-year prescription period for going after his father’s killers had long lapsed.
“But (the prescription period) doesn’t apply to people who were never under the jurisdiction of the courts, who were never arraigned. Does this apply to them? ” Mr. Aquino said.
“I believe I know who did it but will we be able to prove it at the penultimate level? That is the issue. The important thing is that there should be no question as to what transpired,” he said.
Mr. Aquino underscored the importance of coming up with evidence that was tight as he stressed that it was “not right” to manufacture evidence as was done during the Marcos years.
“Unfortunately the evidence is leading us only to a certain point,” he said, noting that this was exacerbated when his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, released the convicted killers of his father without them having fully served their sentences.
In an impromptu speech at the exhibit, Mr. Aquino lauded the sacrifice made by his father, noting that video footage which showed his father had been tempted to give up the fight for love of his family.
Twenty-eight years after his father’s assassination, the President said he hoped the people today would be able to say that the senator’s sacrifice was “not put to waste” and that they will be able to finish the fight.
Then opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was shot dead at the Manila International Airport shortly after he returned from exile in the United States. The court later declared the crime a “military conspiracy.”