Kin of Aquino slay suspect killed in accident sues driver

We want him to face the consequences of what he did.

This was the reason why the family of Pablo Martinez, a suspect and vital witness in the 1983 assassination of opposition Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr., pushed through with the filing of a criminal complaint against the Philippine Airlines employee who ran over Martinez on May 5, causing his death two days later.

Martinez was one of 16 soldiers who had done time for Aquino’s killing. He had linked officials of the Aviation Security Command to the assassination.

On Tuesday afternoon, Martinez’s family filed charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to property against Henry Roque, 29, in the Parañaque prosecutor’s office.

Roque was the driver of the Mitsubishi Montero who side-swept and ran over Martinez as he was on a bicycle on Roxas Boulevard in Parañaque City last week.

Though it was initially reported that Martinez’s family had reached an amicable settlement with Roque, they expressed their dissatisfaction with what they deemed as his failure to squarely face his responsibility.

“He has not even apologized to us personally,” one of Martinez’s children, Diomedes, said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Diomedes added that although Roque had paid for the hospital bills and funeral expenses, he never went to the hospital to visit Martinez but sent only his family members and a lawyer to thresh out a settlement.

He said that Roque also failed to respond to text messages or phone calls. The Martinez family also expressed concern that he would leave the country.

“We want [Roque] to feel the gravity of what he did,” Diomedes added. “He should show that he is also sorry for what happened.”

He also quoted witnesses as saying Roque had even attempted to flee but was caught after he got stuck in traffic.

“It’s painful for us now to feel like we still have to chase after him,” Diomedes said. “Now that we’ve filed a complaint, maybe he will face us.”