Bernie Salcedo, who was with Evelio Javier when Javier was attacked, points to bullet holes on the wall of a bathroom in a house where the then anti-Marcos opposition leader in Antique was finished off by assassins. NESTOR P. BURGOS JR
When Antiqueños remembered the 30th anniversary of the murder of their former governor, Evelio Javier, on Thursday, two commemorative events were held separately in the capital town of San Jose, reflecting the political divisions that have gone deeper in the province.
One ceremony was organized by the public servant’s younger brother, former Gov. Exequiel Javier, and the other, by the provincial government under Gov. Rhodora Cadiao.
“Evelio’s death reminds us that Antiqueños should be united because he died for the province. We are still aspiring to achieve that unity,” businessman Rani Rodriguez said.
Evelio’s ideals and legacies should continue to be relived and upheld because these remain relevant to the lives of the people, he added.
Anti-Marcos leader
Javier was among the leaders of the opposition United Nationalist Democratic Organization, which was monitoring the results of the Feb. 7, 1986, snap presidential elections between opposition standard-bearer Corazon “Cory” Aquino and strongman Ferdinand
Marcos.
The anti-Marcos leader was in a huddle with his supporters—Bernie Salcedo, Divino Bermudes and Blasito Juada—when heavily armed men approached them near the old provincial capitol in San Jose and fired at the group.
Javier was hit in the right shoulder and fled to a rice store owned by Leon Pe. But the gunmen pursued and finished him off in a bathroom where he had sought refuge.
His body bore 26 bullet wounds and was taken to Manila three days later for necrological services at Ateneo de Manila. Tens of thousands of his province mates met his convoy when he was brought home to Antique and buried days before the Feb. 22, 1986 people power uprising.
Javier’s death helped galvanized anger and resistance against Marcos which ultimately led to the Edsa revolt on Feb. 22-25, 1986, which toppled the Marcos dictatorship.
Good governance ideals
The public official has been considered a martyr, especially among his province mates, because he died fighting for the ideals he espoused—freedom, dignity, good governance, justice and peace. His death anniversary is a special nonworking holiday on Panay Island and most public places and structures in Antique were named after him.
According to Rodriguez, Javier’s ideals on good governance are a legacy that should constantly challenge leaders of the province, especially with the local and national elections on May 9. In one of his famous calls, Javier had said: “Ang pwesto sa gobyerno bukut burugasan, bukut paranubli-un (Public office is not a means of livelihood nor is it inherited).”
Antique is currently embroiled in a political controversy after the Commission on Elections removed Exequiel as governor last year due to an election offense. But in a decision issued on Jan. 12, the Supreme Court reversed his disqualification and removal.
The high court is yet to issue an order that will execute its decision and revert Gov. Rhodora Cadiao to her previous position as vice governor.
A MONUMENT of Javier at the San Jose public plaza NESTOR P. BURGOS JR.
Provincial leaders
Exequiel is running for reelection against Cadiao. He served as representative of the province’s lone congressional district for six terms—from 1987 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2010. He was the governor from 1998 to 2001 and 2010 to 2013.
His son, Antique Rep. Paolo Everardo Javier, is seeking a third and final term.
Vice Mayor Bernardo Tubianosa of Sibalom town found it disheartening that the leaders of the province have been swapping accusations of graft and corruption, unlike Javier, who had stayed untainted of allegations of irregularities.
Antique is no longer among the poorest 20 provinces in the country. It is currently categorized as a second-class province with annual income of not more than P450 million.
Slow, uneven progress
But economic development has been concentrated in San Jose and a few towns. Modern shopping malls have sprouted in the capital town and tourism has boosted the economy of towns, especially in the northern part of the province.
The once dusty and unpaved roads in the 1970s and 1980s have been transformed to paved highways.
An executive of a private company said political squabbling was among the reasons for the slow development. Antique is still a main supplier of “sacadas” or seasonal sugarcane plantation workers, who are employed in large plantations in Negros Occidental province and other areas.
“As the years pass, the ideals that Evelio fought and died for are slowly being forgotten especially among younger generations,” the executive told the Inquirer on condition of anonymity for fear of political reprisal.
Pacificadors
After three decades, there is also still no closure to Javier’s murder even though supporters of former assemblyman Arturo Pacificador, who was tagged the mastermind, are serving prison terms. Pacificador, a staunch ally of Marcos, was a member of the provincial board when he died in January last year and had unsuccessfully ran for higher positions in past elections.
The Antique Regional Trial Court acquitted Pacificador in the murder case on Oct. 12, 2004. But it found guilty his lawyer, Avelino “Bob” Javellana and six others, mostly Pacificador’s security personnel.
Pacificador and those convicted have repeatedly denied any involvement in the killing. Two other accused, Eduardo Iran, alias “Boy Muslim,” and Pacificador’s son, Rodolfo, have remained at large and have not been arraigned.
Rodolfo fled to Canada, where he was granted political asylum.
The Pacificadors have been once the dominant political family in the province, but its bailiwick has now been limited only in Hamtic town.
Javier’s son Gideon said his father’s death had forever changed the province because Antiqueños “no longer have to live in fear under a reign of terror ….” But he acknowledged that the changes have fallen short of what people aspire for.