No reaction to Martinez confession

Up to the time of his death on Tuesday morning, Air Force M/Sgt. Pablo Martinez’s confession absolving his fellow convicts from involvement in the assassination of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was not acted upon by the government.

Martinez was sideswiped and then run over by a car while he was riding a bicycle on Roxas Boulevard Monday morning.

Despite his admission that he alone had prior knowledge of the plot to kill the senator, the government didn’t make amends to the other soldiers who were charged and sentenced, along with him, in connection with the assassination.

I interviewed Martinez many years ago  when he and the other convicted “assassins” were still serving time at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

It was a chance interview as my purpose in going to the NBP compound was to visit a long-time friend, retired police general Vic Vinarao, who was then the newly-installed director of the Bureau of Corrections (BOC).

(If my memory serves me right, Vinarao was the only one to be appointed BOC director twice: During the time of President Ramos and the Arroyo administration.)

The NBP compound, the biggest prison under the BOC in terms of the number of inmates, houses the director’s residence.

As Vinarao was showing me around the NBP compound, I asked his permission to interview the “murderers” of Ninoy and Rolando Galman.

During the interview, Martinez insisted his fellow convicts who were with him at the NBP were all innocent: Constable Rogelio Moreno, Constable First Class Mario Lazaga, Sergeants Claro Lat, Arnulfo de Mesa, Filomeno Miranda, Rolando de Guzman, Ernesto Mateo, Rolando de Guzman, Ernesto Mateo, Rodolfo Desolong, Ruben Aquino, Arnulfo Artates, Airman First Class Cordova Estelo and AlC Felizardo Taran.

“They were not in on the plot to kill Senator Aquino. They were wrongly accused,” Martinez told me.

Martinez said it was  Col. Romeo Ochoco, deputy chief of the Aviation Security Command (Avsecom), who ordered  him to recruit Galman a hired killer, for the job.

He said he was able to sneak Galman into the airport, then known as the Manila International Airport (MIA), using a fake ID and an aircraft mechanic’s uniform.

Days before the assassination, Martinez said Galman tried out a Smith and Wesson caliber .357 Magnum using a   tree trunk as target. The gun was used in shooting the senator.

Martinez said that when Galman shot Aquino on the MIA tarmac, the senator’s military escorts reacted by shooting down Galman.

The escorts were tried along with Martinez and convicted.

“They are innocent. It was only I who knew of  the assassination plot,” Martinez said.

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Why did the government turn a deaf ear to Martinez’s confession absolving his companions of the crime?

Because it didn’t want to rock the boat. It wanted to show that justice had been served,  even to the extent of sending innocent men to prison.

That’s how flawed our justice system is.