Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
August 22, 2002
SEN. PIMENTEL HELL BENT TO PIN DOWN FORMER PRES. RAMOS
THIS TIME ASKING HIM TO REVEAL PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE RE:NINOY'S
SLAYING
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"Ninoy's slaying is not yet a closed case."
Citing the need to reopen the controversial case of the late
Benigno Ninoy Aquino, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday called
for the reopening of the investigation into the assassination in
order to find the real culprit which he said must pay before the
Filipino people.
Pimentel expressed belief that those responsible in the killing
of Ninoy need to answer the many questions including the
mastermind or masterminds behind the murder remains unsolved 19
years after Aquino's death although a number of soldiers,
including their superiors in the military Establisment, had been
found guilty by the Sandiganbayan.
In a privileged speech marking the 19th death anniversary of the
martyred senator, he said there is one person who must have vital
information on the circumstances of the killing of Aquino.
He said that person must have some knowledge surrounding the
Aquino murder because he was occupying a top position in
government at that time. That person was also a relative of the
late President Ferdinand Marcos, he added.
That person, according to the opposition senator, is none other
than former President Fidel Ramos, the erstwhile chief of the
defunct Constabulary.
In a separate speech, Sen. Joker Arroyo, who defended Aquino
before a military tribunal during martial law, extolled Aquino's
unyielding spirit even from his prison cell.
But Pimentel was more intent on prying loose the truth behind the
late senator's death. "As Constabulary chief, it is
impossible for General Ramos not to have known about the planned
murder of Ninoy. Or if he did not know the plotters before the
act was done, it is imposible for him not to know after it was
done," Pimentel said in a privileged speech at the Senate.
Now that then-President Ferdinand Marcos and Gen. Fabian Ver
(Marcos's Armed Forces chief) are gone, and Imelda Marcos is
advancing in years, Ramos would no longer have any reason to keep
the truth about the Aquino assassination, Pimentel said.
"I suggest that he owes it to the Filipino people to come
clean; tell us what he knows about the killing of Ninoy and
identify who the mastermind is," he said.
"Mr. Ramos would do the nation proud if he lays bare the
secrets surrounding the murder that he has all through the years
kept close to his chest," the senator said, adding that 19
years is a long time to bear a closely guarded secret in anyone's
heart. "I suggest to Mr. Ramos that he let go of that secret
and share it with the people."
According to Pimentel, Marcos, shortly before, during and after
the killing of Aquino, was battling for his life. Marcos, he
said, was reportedly in the throes of severe pain occasioned by a
kidney transplant, although this was denied at that time by
Palace authorities.
He said the implication was that Marcos had no hand in plotting
and execution of the Aquino murder. The names of other suspects
have surfaced, among them Ver and Mrs. Marcos. Ver died a few
years ago.
"But neither in the case of General Ver nor in the case of
Mrs. Marcos has any solid evidence come out to really connect
them to the murder of Ninoy. Not from any witness, to my
knowledge. And neither from those who are now serving their
sentences in Muntinlupa for the killing of Ninoy," Pimentel
said.
It was learned that former President Aquino expressed no
intention to reopen the case of her husband's assassination.
Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier said Mrs. Aquino
deserves respect and her decision as the wife of the slain victim
must be given respect by our authorities.///Camille p. balagtas