Who Ordered Ninoy Killed?
[A documentary on the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, prepared by the Foundation for Worldwide People Power, will be shown on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 7:30 PM at the Veterans War Memorial (400 Van Ness Avenue) in San Francisco sponsored by the Ninoy Aquino Movement (NAM). You're invited. Before the showing, you are also invited to a Candlelight Vigil and March at 6 PM at the steps of the San Francisco City Hall. --- Ed.]
After 25 years, the question still remains unanswered: who ordered the assassination of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino on August 21, 1983?
I previously wrote that Ferdinand Marcos was the mastermind because the military precision of the assassination could not have occurred without the knowledge and involvement of Gen. Fabian Ver, who would not have done anything without the Dictator’s knowledge and approval.
But could someone else have been the actual mastermind? Let’s review the facts.
Ninoy Aquino’s plane had just landed in Manila on August 21, 1983 on a flight from Taipei when Philippine soldiers entered the plane, approached Ninoy and placed him under their custody and control. The soldiers hustled him through the crowded aisle and out the airport door which they immediately shut to prevent anyone from following them to a staircase.
A few seconds later, shots were fired and Ninoy’s lifeless body lay on the concrete tarmac of the Manila International Airport.
About 16 soldiers (no officers!) were charged with conspiring to kill Ninoy. “The forensic evidence submitted to the trial court,” columnist Antonio Abaya wrote, “established that the trajectory of the fatal bullet was ‘forward, downward and medially’, the bullet entering Aquino’s skull near his left ear and exiting at his chin. This was consistent with the gun being fired at Aquino by someone behind him who was at a higher plane than he was, such as someone who was one or two steps behind him on a downward flight of stairs.”
Rolando Galman, the hapless patsy brought by his military handlers through tight security at the airport, was positioned at the foot of the staircase. After Aquino was shot once from behind, the soldiers pointed their assault rifles at Galman and shot him several times to make sure he was dead.
After a military van appeared on the tarmac, soldiers quickly loaded the bodies of both Aquino and Galman on to the van which sped to a military camp. Several hours passed before the corpses were delivered to a coroner for examination.
Barely eight hours later, Marcos announced to the world that “communist hit man” Rolando Galman had killed Ninoy Aquino.
But no one believed Marcos and a fact-findiing commission he formed in response to world outrage determined that 16 soldiers were responsible and they were so charged before a trial court. After the 16 soldiers were convicted of conspiracy in the killing of Ninoy and sentenced to Muntinglupa penitentiary, one of them, M/Sgt. Pablo Martinez, became a born-again Christian and decided to confess and reveal what the other soldiers would not.
In his affidavit, Martinez declared that he was assigned by Col. Romeo Ochoco, then deputy commander of the Aviation Security Command (Avsecom); Brig. Gen. Romeo Gatan of the Philippine Constabulary; and Herminio Gosuico, a civilian businessman from Nueva Ecija, to escort Galman from a hotel near the airport to the tarmac, to await the arrival of Ninoy from Taipei.
Witnesses at the Agrava Fact-Finding Commission had previously identified Gosuico, along with Air Force Col. Arturo Custodio and two others, as the men who fetched Galman from his home in San Miguel, Bulacan, on August 17, 1983.
Martinez had previously served under Col. Ochoa, who personally recruited him for the special assignment. Martinez wrote that he and Galman were briefed on the assassination plot at the Carlston Hotel near the domestic airport on the night of August 20, 1983. Briefing them on the details of the plot were Gen. Gatan, Col. Ochoco and Gosuico. That evening, Col. Ochoco gave Galman a .357 Magnum revolver, while Martinez was given a Smith & Wesson .38 cal. revolver.
On the morning of August 21, 1983, just before Martinez brought Galman to the airport, Galman’s mistress, Anna Oliva, and her sister Catherine, were brought to the Carlston Hotel to have breakfast with Galman. The two women were last seen at their workplace on September 4, 1983 when armed men picked them up. Their corpses were later exhumed from a sugarcane field in Capas, Tarlac in 1988 in a hacienda reportedly owned by Danding Cojuangco.
Galman’s wife, Lina Lazaro, was picked up at her home by two men on January 29, 1984 and was never seen again. During the Agrava Fact-Finding inquiry, Gosuico was identified by Galman’s son and stepdaughter as one of the two men who picked up their mother. Gosuico was a known business associate of Danding Cojuangco.
Despite all the testimonies implicating them, neither Col. Ochoco, Gen. Gatan nor Gosuico were ever charged with involvement in the conspiracy to kill Ninoy.
Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s current Justice Secretary, Raul Gonzalez, was a Sandiganbayan prosecutor under Cory Aquino when he came upon a witness with crucial evidence who was willing to testify under certain conditions. Gonzalez went to President Cory in Malacanang to tell her that the witness wanted protection for herself and her three kids. Before Cory would agree to the terms, she asked who the witness would name as the mastermind.
When Gonzalez answered that she would name her first cousin, Pres. Cory reportedly responded “Impossible! It cannot be!” She refused the demand of the witness who eventually disappeared.
Gen. Romeo Gatan died of a heart ailment at an unspecified date. Hermie Gosuico died under mysterious circumstances leading Abaya to ask: “Did he die of illness or accident, or was he eliminated because he knew too much?”
Of the original conspirators named by Martinez, only Col. Ochoco is still alive, reportedly living with family somewhere in Stockton, California.
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Whoever thought about it first or executed the plan, the buck stops with Marcos. He was the President-Dictator then. He wanted the assassination to happen so he let it happen.
could it be his wife or the CAI or CIA,watevr.,.?
cory aquino would never have her husband killed and there is no CIA in the Republic of the Philippines
there is only one thing i could say to the assassination of ninoy.
“lying or not telling the truth, is the first killer of any Filipino or a state/country. it’s command responsibility. why Mr. Ramos & Mr.Enrile never confess since they were the high ranking military officials in that time.let’s stop lying as our escape to reality!
who is the one who killed ninoy, is it his soldier or his own staff!
i just wanted to say, after 25 years why should they open that case eventhough they know what will be the result of it, is it just for throwing some issues or just hiding of some issues that we faces right now.im not saying that im not in ninoy side but im just telling it is over just let it to god,.!
justice must be serve to Ninoy Aquino and to all victime of the corrupt dictatorial regime of martial law. Enrile and Ramos inlucding Imelda marcos must confess on their knowledge about this unfilipino and diabolical murder in our modern history.
If and if in this life time that the names mentioned above will not tell the truth, therefore, Ninoy died in vain and Edsa revolution will soon realized by many Filipinos that in deed more than 25 years ago, People Power revolution need a genuine violent revolution to complete the justice that need to prevail in the Philippines!!!
My own conclusion would be DANDING COJUANCO.
keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer…..DANDING COJUANCO would have all the motive. Marcos is just protecting the so called cronies.
CIA masterminded everything, by the time they found out that Ninoy is dying of cancer. Cory was convinced that He (Ninoy) should die a hero. To do that he should be assasinated in the Philippines in his arrival, just like what happened to Jose Rizal.
And the revolution will started to overthrow the Dictator Ferdinand Marcos. His death signified the waking up of emotion of the masses to Marcos downfall. The CIA boy who became hard headed loke Saddam Hussien and Norriega.
Its like hitting two bird in one stone. Ninoy a hero and Marcos out.
They rest are just decoy Galman and Custodio.
Why Marcos is hard headed CIA Boy, because he refused to bail out the economic crises during Reagan.
He refused to hand over the Gold, the Americans wanted. And Col Santa Romana is also hiding in the Vatican. Where he keep most of the bounty. He made his buddies organized a rebellions is hiding in the mountains were NPAs and MILFs are guarding them.
Ninoy is not a treat to Marcos Presidency. Why you kill someone that people love. And Imelda caution Ninoy should not come home. In fact Marcos wanted Ninoy to be his successor. Cory knows exactly whats going on or else She should accompany Ninoy on his trip. Because !983, Marcos is already gone from the Palace. 1986 revolution takes place.
So were is Marcos now? CIA is running after them because of the Gold. Where is the Gold?
sir danilo,
interesting theory. could you please share the sources of information? Salamat po!
It’s still DANDING COJUANCO for me.
Its a cojauangco boys who did it,,,No doubt…He died for the interest of so many including his wife’s brother and lopezes..to gain back their properties from the Marcoses..
its marcos and danding cojuangco………. tats all….
the five mesirables!
i thinh it is President Ferdinand Marcos because on that time the president is the law and then, if they the police investigate it. He can control by telling the investigators not to tell the truth
Hero or no Hero..Why should one become a hero, just because he was assasinated on live television..Yes he did great things and stood up againts a dictator, but his morality surpassed him way b4 he was exhiled..Unnoticed reports were documented that he also killed people from the other force..sad our country dwelled in this violent century….Were the wives killed by the suspects, called heroes? no they were not…they mysteriously died and forgotten…their children lived now in dark shadows from the deaths inflicted by the two disgusting forces who had power on the political philippine regime of the 1980’s and 1990’s….
We never really did enjoyed our freedom from the spaniards..we were never really free…we took for granted the power we had, and twisted and forged morality, judgement and revenge into one creepy idea of self rightousness..
OUR COUNTRY WAS NEVER REALLY FREE FROM INVADING FOREIGNERS.
WE ARE FIRSTLY NEVER FREE FROM OURSELVES…
AND WE ARE GOING TO BE FOREVER IMPRISONED AND BE KEPT AWAY FROM TRUE FREEDOM.
OR anyway, It’s just another free man’s opinion…
MABUHAY PILIPINAS
the answer to this case was already answered but people or certain person didn’t want to accept the facts and have a full investigation. all i can tell u is listen to msgt martinez.
where is the woman with her 3 kids?
ALL OF THEM KNOWS THE TRUTH,,,SAD TO SAY THAT OTHERS ARE VICTIMS OF THEIR PERSONAL-DARK AMBITION…
Danding Cojuanco, for everybody’s sake…
Not Marcos, he’s wise, he could not have killed his staunch rival, if he did that all the people could do was turn against him more potently, he knew the public doesn’t like him that much and to kill ninoy was just making things agrravate by themselves, he’s just too wise to fool himself
well, danding has all the motives in the world, he has a huge empire to built, he even sees himself as a right hand successor of Marcos, evidence, he ran twice as a candidate for presidency yet he lost the sane time, i’ve read somewhere that his company had so much to keep that having ninoy lived and presumbably replace marcos in the to spot would mean a very very bad news to danding!
The priority here is to have Capt Felipe Valerio, who is rumored to be a commercial pilot based in Seattle WA, extradited to the Philippines to face charges against him. I cannot fathom why until now, the Philippine government has not been able to find him. If Cesar Mancao, Glenn Dumlao and Michael Ray Aquino can be found, why not Valerio?
I believe he holds the key to the resolution of this case. He should man up and come out of hiding … what a coward! He has been free to live the good life all these years while the pardoned soldiers have suffered in jail for 20 years. Shame on him.
cory doesn’t speak out this time because she knows that danding was the mastermind of ninoy’s death.
I think Marcos did not kill Ninoy. Marcos is a wise guy. Killing Ninoy would be very obvious. Its DANDING COJUANGCO. Cory had all the power to hunt down and prosecute the mastermind when she became president but she did not do anything.
For all those years that passed since ninoy aquino was killed,even every filipino knew that Marcoses was the mastermind of the killing,but the question is “WHO REALY SHOT NINOY?” I thought it was GALMAN, but since last night,I had seen in a Japanese channel named “THE BEST HOUSE”, the Japanese experts reviwed the video that they have… now I know that it was “not” Galman,of course he was there kill Ninoy. But he was just being used by the people who ordered him.
The Japanese experts said,it was really a “plot” the police officers who went went up to the plane to scort him knew that they will assassinate Ninoy. And the the real one who shot ninoy was the first officer in his back and then Galman came, so they shot Shot Galman so they can blame Galman that he was killer. Sa loob pa lang po ng airplane tinakpan na nila ang media na hindi makita ang mangyayari sa hagdanan. Pero…nalinis po ng mag Japanese experts ang boses ng nasa eroplano(sapamamagitan ng VOICE MACHINE)meron pong nagsabing “AKO NA” at katugma ang boses nya sa pulis na humihilang patayuin si Ninoy at yon ang taong nasa likod ni Ninoy. Meron din pong nagsabing “PUSILA NA” (meaning “BARILIN MO NA” bisayang dialect po iyo)
then… yon na po, pumutok na yong baril. and take note po…”COLT 45″ po ang totoong baril ang ginamit ka Ninoy. I believe that the examination had seen the Japanese experts was true, as I believe in the justice system of the Japanese goverment. MABUHAY KA NINOY! GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES.
duh!! it is galman, search more history in your internet will yah so that you know!!
They are all about to be complete in the underworld. Imelda Marcos and Danding Conjuangco are the only ones left. I’m sure they will all settle this when they meet again. The only thing is we, the ones who are alive will forever remain innocent and yet judgemental about what happened. While one would be blaming Marcos and the other blaming Conjuangco, this I ask. Can you all prove your conclusions or you are angry because it is what you were thought to think of without considering the fact that you really don’t know what transpired? Think about it.
wow!! i’ve been searching history all the time!! people i hate
-Rolando and Marcos
uhm if you dont mind who are the persons involved in the assassination?
I BELIEVE THAT THE MASTERMINDS WERE FERDINAND MARCOS(THE CRUEL PRESIDENT) AND DANDING CUANGCO. THAT’S ALL
he said the last words before he step downs on the tarmac.
“i know after i step down here somebody will wait for me to shoot me in my head eventhough i have a bullet proof to make sure that his mission is accompilshed and to make sure that i am a dead body”.
-Ninoy Aquino (1932-1983)
Last words assassination day
August 21, 1983
i thought that the mastermind of assassination of ninoy either himself or the communists.
Hindi na lalabas ang katotohanan dahil mawawalan ng saysay lahat ng mga nangyari sa pilipinas nitong nakaraang dalawang dekada. Kapag lumabas na hindi si marcos ang nagpapatay (at malamang na hindi sya dahil hindi yun tanga para dahil sya ang unang sisishin), mawawalan ng bango ang pagkamatay ni ninoy at ang EDSA 1. Hindi ba kayo nagtataka kung bakit nasa taas pa rin ang mga cronies ni marcos? Palipat-lipat lang sila ng amo.
Totoo ito. Hindi na natin malalaman kung sino talaga ang nagpapatay kay Ninoy unless mag-confess sila sa mundo bago mamatay.
TOTOO PO KAYA SI DANDING NAGPAPATAY SA BAYAW NYA?PERO BAKIT?SABAGAY SA MGA PELIKULA MINSAN NGA UNG MALAPIT AT KAMAG-ANAK ANG NAGPAPAPATAY.BAKA PARA GUMULO MATANGGAL AT PAGBINTANGAN SI MARCOS AT MAGKAROON CLA NG CHANCE NA MAMUNO?ANO BA YAN PURO HAKA HAKA NA. HAY
sus, purbista , kana inyong gipang istorya wala jud ayo puro lang mo tagna tagna kong kinsa jud nagpapatay ni ninoy. Maayo pag sulbaron na ninyo ang mga corakot karon sa governo para makahaw-as me sa kalisod deri sa fossil cebu…pero kadugay na ato gipatay si ninoy wala pa gani ko ato natawo dinhi sa kalibutan hangtud karon wala mo kabawo kinsa nagpatay. ingon sa akong tatay na ang amigo man to sa akong lolo ang nagpusil, gisugo ra siya og gibayran ang iyang pamilya. pero gipamatay pud. sus, ayaw nalang to tokea kong kinsa nagpapatay kay na.., pusilon sab mo. og ang maayo nalang atong buhaton na mag ampo nalang ta sa langit na silutan to ang mga mastermind sa pagpapatay. pero sige lang ako diay pangutan-on akong tatay kinsa name sa mga mastermind.
Anyone want to translate the dialect?
after weighing all the evidences and hearing the side of the soldiers who served their sentences in Muntinlupa, I can assume that it’s not really Marcos who mastermind the assassination of Ninoy. Think of it, if you are the one who’ll be suspected if someone happens to this certain person, why should you do that? In fact, Ninoy has no threat to Marcos government and we can consider it a health competition. I think those rich people that monopolized most of the business here in the Philippines conspired to do the act because only the downfall of Marcos could end the Martial Law and they can resume their greedy works…I hope you would agree…Marcos is a damn genuis and he won’t allow any act that could jeopardize his seat of power…And I think, Cory knew all of this…If she really cares for Ninoy, she would be there by his side…. I think, she’s also aiming for top spot…I consider her one of the worst president of the Philippines…same with D. Macapagal…