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By Ric R. Puod and
Johnna Villaviray,
Senior Reporters
(First part)
Former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. took a circuitous
flight to Manila on August 21, 1983. He had flown in to Taipei from
Hong Kong and, according to the Agrava Fact-Finding Board, he
checked in at that city’s Grand Hotel. He had been in Taipei since
August 19, having left Boston days earlier bound first for Japan,
Malaysia and Singapore. In Taipei he talked to foreign journalists
about various topics, especially about politics under Ferdinand
Marcos’s authoritarian rule, including his imminent arrest upon
his arrival in Manila and, worst, possible assassination.
On August 21 in Manila, while Aquino was
preparing to leave his hotel room in Taipei for a final trip to the
Philippines, Master Sgt. Pablo Martinez of the now defunct Aviation
Security Command (Avsecom) was having breakfast at the sixth-floor
veranda of the Carlston Hotel on Roxas Boulevard. Martinez had been
in the hotel since August 19 with Rolando Galman, the man who would
carry out Aquino’s assassination, planned a month earlier by what
Martinez called the “invisible group,” which has never been
charged with the crime either in the Tanodbayan or in the Supreme
Court. Two women–whom Martinez did not recognize–joined them at
the breakfast table. None uttered a word while a waiter served them
fried rice, fried egg, longaniza and coffee.
Martinez met Galman at Carlston on the afternoon
of August 19, the same date when Aquino arrived in Taipei. Technical
Sgt. Franklin Maniego hastily fetched Martinez from his Airmen’s
Village house in Nichols Air Base, Pasay City. “Maniego told me
our boss needed my services,” Martinez said, “and that I had to
go with Maniego.”
They immediately pulled off to Baclaran in a
brown staff car (numbered 404. Martinez could no longer remember the
letters on the plate) officially assigned to Col. Romeo Ochoco. They
arrived just in time at Carlston and Maniego led Martinez to a room
on the sixth floor, where Ochoco, then Avsecom deputy commander and
whom Martinez and Maniego referred to as “boss,” was waiting for
them. Ochoco briefed Martinez and introduced him to Maj. General
Romeo Gatan (Gatan had already retired on February 21, 1983, as
chief of the Philippine Constabulary’s Northern Luzon Command).
With Ochoco and Gatan were the late businessman Herminio Gosuico and
Galman. Martinez noticed a number of armed men in the room.
The officials and their armed men, in the
meantime, left Martinez and Maniego in the hotel with strict orders
not to talk to anybody, including members of their families and
their associates. They were not allowed to use the telephone. Ochoco,
Martinez said, instructed him to observe Galman’s activities,
assess his impulses on their mission and ensure that he would not
back out at the last minute. Martinez was aware that he had been
snared, and that if he withdrew he would be killed. Martinez said
the “invisible group” was composed of a few Avsecom and
Constabulary officials, whose perversity to advance the
assassination could only come, as Martinez believed, from a very
“influential person.”
“We were not allowed to call our
families or our associates.” Martinez said his brief association
with Galman was neither indifferent nor trusting. They did not talk
seriously about the mission while in the hotel–who he was, how he
got into this, how much he was being paid for this job, and how and
where he met Ochoco, Gatan and Gosuico. Martinez’s impression of
Galman was that he did not look like a hired killer. Not until some
witnesses had testified before the Agrava board three months later
did shadows over Galman’s past begin to float.
Early night on August 19, shortly after the
officials and their armed men had left the hotel, Galman went out on
his own and came back around 10 p.m. “Hindi niya sinabi kung saan
siya pupunta, pero pagbalik niya napansin ko na may suot-suot
na siyang mamahaling singsing. May dyamante eh.” Martinez could
not say whether the money spent for Galman’s purchases was a
payment for this particular mission. “Basta namili siya noong
gabing iyon,” he said. Galman also bought what Martinez believed
to be an expensive suit, which he gave to the two women when they
were about to leave on August 21. “That was the first and last
time I saw those women,” Martinez said.
There was no doubt in Martinez’s mind that
Aquino’s death was imminent, because the next day (August 20)
Ochoco told him that Ninoy Aquino had to be liquidated and Galman
would be the triggerman. Ochoco’s word now was more certain
about Aquino’s fate. This was so because the planned assassination
had been confided to Martinez as early as July. Martinez’s
relationship with Ochoco had been cordial and somehow close. He had
known Ochoco since 1970 even before he became an Air Force
intelligence agent in 1982, which might also explain Ochoco’s
confiding in him. Martinez even recalled that he once had a verbal
tussle with Ochoco over some petty words hurled at him by the
colonel’s wife, Josephine, when he visited Ochoco’s house–as
he always did, in Nichols Air Base. “Hindi ko na iniisip na
opisyal ko siya,” he said. “Mas matanda ako sa kanya.”
Their long-time relationship and familiarity
might be the reason why Martinez said he was made to belong to that
group. “We had men posted in all the country’s airports and
seaports upon Aquino’s arrival, wherever he chose to sneak into
the country,” he said. “Walang kawala talaga si Aquino noon.”
“One night,” Martinez said, “while we were
on alert status, Colonel Ochoco talked to me–just the two of us.
He told me that the next president of our country to succeed Marcos
was Benigno Aquino.” Could it be that Martinez’s mind was being
conditioned to shape his role in the Aquino assassination? Martinez
said Ochoco did not explain why Aquino was Marcos’s choice as his
successor. Ochoco told him this had displeased some people
close to Marcos, because those who were loyal to him “would hide
in the mountains” if Aquino became president.
This conversation took place in July, after
Ochoco had already given Martinez “verbal instruction” to
swiftly organize a special reaction team involving the 805th Special
Operation Squadron (SOS), of which Martinez was the first sergeant.
By that time Marcos was suffering from a chronic
kidney disease caused by lupus, and a widespread clamor for reform
was germinating. His government was almost certain about Aquino’s
intention to return, based on intelligence reports and the coded
messages received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Aquino
himself and his counsel Ernesto Maceda through the Philippine consul
general in New York. With this, the 805th SOS was placed on a daily
alert status to quell “untoward occurrences within the area of our
responsibilities.”
During the second day in Carlston when Ochoco
had told him that Aquino would be assassinated, Martinez said two
handguns were issued to them in the presence of Gatan and Gosuico.
Martinez received a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver and Galman a Smith
and Wesson 357 Magnum revolver (SN K919079). “Before retiring that
night,” Martinez said, “we were allowed to test-fire the hand
guns. We went to Nichols Air Base and in a secluded area along the
domestic runway, we test-fired the handguns and found them to have
zero defect.” Martinez and Galman went there with Maniego in the
same staff car Maniego used to fetch Martinez from his house a day
earlier.
Martinez had to sneak Galman from Carlston into
the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport. “Though my
heart remonstrated I could not resist,” he said. “Those
bodyguards [the armed men with Gates and Gosuico] were determined to
kill me once I backed out.”
And on August 21 they were expected to do their
job under the most trying circumstances. After taking a shower that
Sunday morning, Galman toweled down out of the bathroom, saying
while fixing his hair before a mirror that he was sweating
profusely.
“I sensed then that Galman was nervous,”
Martinez said. That morning, after taking breakfast with the two
women, they were to receive their final instruction from Gatan, whom
they expected to arrive soon.
“Early in the morning,” Martinez said,
“Gen. Romeo Gatan, Col. Romeo Ochoco, Mr. Herminio Gosuico, the
armed bodyguards and the two unidentified women arrived in the
hotel. The four of us were left inside the hotel room, where the two
women had breakfast with us.” The two women left after that.
Moments later, the officials came back with Martinez’s and
Galman’s uniforms. Martinez said he was surprised when the
officials gave them his own SWAT uniform with a name cloth removed.
“Nagulat ako kung papaano nila nakuha ito sa bahay,” he said.
Galman was given a blue Philippine Airlines uniform similar to that
worn by PAL’s maintenance crewmen, plus an identification card
bearing the name of Dominador Aguayo of the then-Presidential
Security Command. Gatan told Galman in Tagalog: “Lando, pagbutihin
mo ang iyong trabaho, sapagkat kung mabibigo ka si Master [Martinezl
ang siyang babaril sa’yo.”
Unknown to Galman, he was gambling his life
without ever knowing how to get out alive, for whether he would
succeed in killing Aquino, his death had already been sealed that
day. Martinez said Galman certainly would become an unwitting pawn
in that darkest political crime. If he backed out, Martinez would do
his job to kill Aquino, and then Galman. The plan was that Galman
should be gunned down right after he had killed Aquino. “Kasama sa
plano na papatayin si Galman,” Martinez said. Technical Sgt.
Rolando de Guzman, a member of the 805th SOS, would execute this
job. Galing kay Ochoco ang order para kay de Guzman,” Martinez
said.
“But before that final instruction by General
Gatan, I was asked by Ochoco [only two of us] if de Guzman was a
sharpshooter,” Martinez said. “I told him de Guzman was more
than a sharpshooter because he was rated expert in all kinds of hand
guns used in our unit. I know his capabilities because I am his
First Sergeant,”
After hearing this, Ochoco had second thoughts.
This time he wanted de Guzman to do the job: he wanted to be sure
that the bullet would hit right on Aquino’s head. But Martinez
strongly protested, “Si de Guzman ang susunod na babarilin
pagkatapos ni Ninoy?” So Ochoco finally gave in that it had to be
Galman.
Just before high noon, they left the Carlston
Hotel, rode in Ochoco’s car driven by Maniego and went to the
tarmac, passing through Gate 4 (the back door) and off toward Bay 8.
The airport had been heavily cordoned off when they arrived,
especially near the Bay 8 area where the team of Capt. Llewelyn
Kavinta had already been stationed. Maniego, meanwhile, left.
“1 was supposed to report to my Squadron
Commander, Capt. Felipe Valerio, but I failed to see him at once,”
Martinez said. “Instead, I reported to Lt. Ibar Padao, one of the
team leaders assigned to provide security to Aquino. I told him:
‘Andito na kami, sir!’ But to my surprise I received no response
from him.”
It was almost 1 p.m. when they saw the China
Airlines descend on the runway and taxi toward Bay 8 before it
finally parked around 1:08 p.m. Galman’s PAL uniform offered a
perfect cover for him so he could slink, without drawing suspicion
from legitimate PAL maintenance crewmen, right behind the front
wheel of the Cl 811 plane, where Aquino was onboard. Martinez said
he just stayed close to Galman, a good reminder to him of Gatan’s
final word to do his “job well.” Martinez noticed that two
Avsecom airmen had been posted at the foot of the plane’s service
stairway. He ordered them to get out of the area so it would be left
unguarded.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Claro Lat, one of the boarding
parties to escort Aquino, was in the office of Maj. Tito Lopez of
the Presidential Security Unit. Brig. Gen. Luther Custodio, head of
Avsecom, had briefly summoned him there. Lat recalled in an
interview: “Sinabi niyang [Custodio] na papasok kami sa eroplano
at sabihin kay Ninoy na iniimbitahan. Pero noong andoon na ako sa
pintuan at papalabas na ako, tinawag niya ako at sinabihang huwag mo
ng respetuhin at kaladkarin mo na ’yan dahil babarilin naman ’yan.”
The minority report of the Agrava Fact-Finding
Board narrated the incident inside the plane:
“The door of the plane opens. Three soldiers
enter, and come walking down the left aisle of the economy section.
First is C1C Mario Lazaga, followed by Sgt. Arnulfo de Mesa, and
then, Sgt. Claro Lat. The atmosphere is tense. Every one knows the
soldiers are looking for Senator Aquino, sitting quietly at Seat
14-B. The journalists, particularly, watch intensely as the soldiers
slowly make their way toward where Aquino is seated. TV and still
cameras are recording the event.
“Lazaga fails to espy Aquino and goes past
him. But de Mesa and Lat halt beside the ex-senator. Lat addresses
him: Boss, iniimbitahan kayo dito. . . Armed Forces. . .”
Aquino asks, ‘Saan tayo pupunta?’ Lat replies: ‘Dito, sumama
kayo sa akin.’ Aquino says, ‘Dalhin ko na ito, Brad,’
and bends down from his seat to get one of the bags at his seat, the
strap of which he is holding. De Mesa also stoops down and picks up
another bag of Aquino, which he hands over to Lazaga. As he stoops
he passes his right hand down the back of Aquino. Lat, in turn,
takes
hold of Aquino’s other bag and slings it over
his shoulder. The soldiers then begin to steer Aquino toward the
plane exit.”
The report said, “Senator Aquino and his
escorts go out of the door of the plane into the air bridge. But
instead of going forward along the tube toward the concrete part of
the jetway and thence to the concourse, Aquino is turned toward the
bridge door leading to the service staircase. He is brought out
through this door.”
Lat continued in an interview:
“Bago kami bumaba, huminto muna siya [Aquino]
sa platform ng staircase. Ako naman patingin-tingin sa ibang
direksyon kung meron ngang sniper. Sinabihan ko si Aquino na
‘bilisan mo at babarilin ka.’ Nakita ko namutla siya.”
Martinez and de Guzman recalled the event.
De Guzman said that was the only occasion they
were not allowed to disembark from the van in welcoming a VIP, which
he said was very unusual. “Usually sa baba kami para makita naming
kung sino ang suspicious person doon. Ang order na ’yon galing kay
Capt. Felipe Valerio.”
“A few minutes later,” Martinez said, “I
saw Sgt. Arnulfo de Mesa, ex-Senator Aquino, TS Sergeant Claro Lat,
Sgt. Rogelio Moreno and CIC Mario Lazaga descend the stairway. And
when they were on the tarmac to board a waiting van, Galman, with a
drawn hand gun, dashed behind the trio, poked his gun on the left
side head of the ex-senator and fired it once, causing blood to
spout.
“Moments later 1 saw Sergeant de Mesa wrestle
the gun from Galman, followed by simultaneous gunshots from a
.45-caliber pistol fired by Sergeant de Guzman, hitting Galman’s
head and body. Then successive gunshots from M-16 rifles fired by
some airmen who had jumped out of the SWAT van.”
Aquino and Galman both lay dead on the tarmac.
The officials and their armed men, in the
meantime, left Martinez and Maniego in the hotel with strict orders
not to talk to anybody, including members of their families and
their associates. They were not allowed to use the telephone. Ochoco,
Martinez said, instructed him to observe Galman’s activities,
assess his impulses on their mission and ensure that he would not
back out at the last minute. Martinez was aware that he had been
snared, and that if he withdrew he would be killed. Martinez said
the “invisible group” was composed of a few Avsecom and
Constabulary officials, whose perversity to advance the
assassination could only come, as Martinez believed, from a very
“influential person.”
“We were not allowed to call our families or
our associates.” Martinez said his brief association with Galman
was neither indifferent nor trusting. They did not talk seriously
about the mission while in the hotel–who he was, how he got into
this, how much he was being paid for this job, and how and where he
met Ochoco, Gatan and Gosuico. Martinez’s impression of Galman was
that he did not look like a hired killer. Not until some witnesses
had testified before the Agrava board three months later did shadows
over Galman’s past begin to float.
Early night on August 19, shortly after the
officials and their armed men had left the hotel, Galman went out on
his own and came back around 10 p.m. “Hindi niya sinabi kung saan
siya pupunta, pero pagbalik niya napansin ko na may suot-suot
na siyang mamahaling singsing. May dyamante eh.” Martinez could
not say whether the money spent for Galman’s purchases was a
payment for this particular mission. “Basta namili siya noong
gabing iyon,” he said. Galman also bought what Martinez believed
to be an expensive suit, which he gave to the two women when they
were about to leave on August 21. “That was the first and last
time I saw those women,” Martinez said.
There was no doubt in Martinez’s mind that
Aquino’s death was imminent, because the next day (August 20)
Ochoco told him that Ninoy Aquino had to be liquidated and Galman
would be the triggerman. Ochoco’s word now was more certain
about Aquino’s fate. This was so because the planned assassination
had been confided to Martinez as early as July. Martinez’s
relationship with Ochoco had been cordial and somehow close. He had
known Ochoco since 1970 even before he became an Air Force
intelligence agent in 1982, which might also explain Ochoco’s
confiding in him. Martinez even recalled that he once had a verbal
tussle with Ochoco over some petty words hurled at him by the
colonel’s wife, Josephine, when he visited Ochoco’s house–as
he always did, in Nichols Air Base. “Hindi ko na iniisip na
opisyal ko siya,” he said. “Mas matanda ako sa kanya.”
Their long-time relationship and familiarity
might be the reason why Martinez said he was made to belong to that
group. “We had men posted in all the country’s airports and
seaports upon Aquino’s arrival, wherever he chose to sneak into
the country,” he said. “Walang kawala talaga si Aquino noon.”
“One night,” Martinez said, “while we were
on alert status, Colonel Ochoco talked to me–just the two of us.
He told me that the next president of our country to succeed Marcos
was Benigno Aquino.” Could it be that Martinez’s mind was being
conditioned to shape his role in the Aquino assassination? Martinez
said Ochoco did not explain why Aquino was Marcos’s choice as his
successor. Ochoco told him this had displeased some people
close to Marcos, because those who were loyal to him “would hide
in the mountains” if Aquino became president.
This conversation took place in July, after
Ochoco had already given Martinez “verbal instruction” to
swiftly organize a special reaction team involving the 805th Special
Operation Squadron (SOS), of which Martinez was the first sergeant.
By that time Marcos was suffering from a chronic
kidney disease caused by lupus, and a widespread clamor for reform
was germinating. His government was almost certain about Aquino’s
intention to return, based on intelligence reports and the coded
messages received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Aquino
himself and his counsel Ernesto Maceda through the Philippine consul
general in New York. With this, the 805th SOS was placed on a daily
alert status to quell “untoward occurrences within the area of our
responsibilities.”
During the second day in Carlston when Ochoco
had told him that Aquino would be assassinated, Martinez said two
handguns were issued to them in the presence of Gatan and Gosuico.
Martinez received a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver and Galman a Smith
and Wesson 357 Magnum revolver (SN K919079). “Before retiring that
night,” Martinez said, “we were allowed to test-fire the hand
guns. We went to Nichols Air Base and in a secluded area along the
domestic runway, we test-fired the handguns and found them to have
zero defect.” Martinez and Galman went there with Maniego in the
same staff car Maniego used to fetch Martinez from his house a day
earlier.
Martinez had to sneak Galman from Carlston into
the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport. “Though my
heart remonstrated I could not resist,” he said. “Those
bodyguards [the armed men with Gates and Gosuico] were determined to
kill me once I backed out.”
And on August 21 they were expected to do their
job under the most trying circumstances. After taking a shower that
Sunday morning, Galman toweled down out of the bathroom, saying
while fixing his hair before a mirror that he was sweating
profusely.
“I sensed then that Galman was nervous,”
Martinez said. That morning, after taking breakfast with the two
women, they were to receive their final instruction from Gatan, whom
they expected to arrive soon.
“Early in the morning,” Martinez said,
“Gen. Romeo Gatan, Col. Romeo Ochoco, Mr. Herminio Gosuico, the
armed bodyguards and the two unidentified women arrived in the
hotel. The four of us were left inside the hotel room, where the two
women had breakfast with us.” The two women left after that.
Moments later, the officials came back with Martinez’s and
Galman’s uniforms. Martinez said he was surprised when the
officials gave them his own SWAT uniform with a name cloth removed.
“Nagulat ako kung papaano nila nakuha ito sa bahay,” he said.
Galman was given a blue Philippine Airlines uniform similar to that
worn by PAL’s maintenance crewmen, plus an identification card
bearing the name of Dominador Aguayo of the then-Presidential
Security Command. Gatan told Galman in Tagalog: “Lando, pagbutihin
mo ang iyong trabaho, sapagkat kung mabibigo ka si Master [Martinezl
ang siyang babaril sa’yo.”
Unknown to Galman, he was gambling his life
without ever knowing how to get out alive, for whether he would
succeed in killing Aquino, his death had already been sealed that
day. Martinez said Galman certainly would become an unwitting pawn
in that darkest political crime. If he backed out, Martinez would do
his job to kill Aquino, and then Galman. The plan was that Galman
should be gunned down right after he had killed Aquino. “Kasama sa
plano na papatayin si Galman,” Martinez said. Technical Sgt.
Rolando de Guzman, a member of the 805th SOS, would execute this
job. Galing kay Ochoco ang order para kay de Guzman,” Martinez
said.
“But before that final instruction by General
Gatan, I was asked by Ochoco [only two of us] if de Guzman was a
sharpshooter,” Martinez said. “I told him de Guzman was more
than a sharpshooter because he was rated expert in all kinds of hand
guns used in our unit. I know his capabilities because I am his
First Sergeant,”
After hearing this, Ochoco had second thoughts.
This time he wanted de Guzman to do the job: he wanted to be sure
that the bullet would hit right on Aquino’s head. But Martinez
strongly protested, “Si de Guzman ang susunod na babarilin
pagkatapos ni Ninoy?” So Ochoco finally gave in that it had to be
Galman.
Just before high noon, they left the Carlston
Hotel, rode in Ochoco’s car driven by Maniego and went to the
tarmac, passing through Gate 4 (the back door) and off toward Bay 8.
The airport had been heavily cordoned off when they arrived,
especially near the Bay 8 area where the team of Capt. Llewelyn
Kavinta had already been stationed. Maniego, meanwhile, left.
“1 was supposed to report to my Squadron
Commander, Capt. Felipe Valerio, but I failed to see him at once,”
Martinez said. “Instead, I reported to Lt. Ibar Padao, one of the
team leaders assigned to provide security to Aquino. I told him:
‘Andito na kami, sir!’ But to my surprise I received no response
from him.”
It was almost 1 p.m. when they saw the China
Airlines descend on the runway and taxi toward Bay 8 before it
finally parked around 1:08 p.m. Galman’s PAL uniform offered a
perfect cover for him so he could slink, without drawing suspicion
from legitimate PAL maintenance crewmen, right behind the front
wheel of the Cl 811 plane, where Aquino was onboard. Martinez said
he just stayed close to Galman, a good reminder to him of Gatan’s
final word to do his “job well.” Martinez noticed that two
Avsecom airmen had been posted at the foot of the plane’s service
stairway. He ordered them to get out of the area so it would be left
unguarded.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Claro Lat, one of the boarding
parties to escort Aquino, was in the office of Maj. Tito Lopez of
the Presidential Security Unit. Brig. Gen. Luther Custodio, head of
Avsecom, had briefly summoned him there. Lat recalled in an
interview: “Sinabi niyang [Custodio] na papasok kami sa eroplano
at sabihin kay Ninoy na iniimbitahan. Pero noong andoon na ako sa
pintuan at papalabas na ako, tinawag niya ako at sinabihang huwag mo
ng respetuhin at kaladkarin mo na ’yan dahil babarilin naman ’yan.”
The minority report of the Agrava Fact-Finding
Board narrated the incident inside the plane:
“The door of the plane opens. Three soldiers
enter, and come walking down the left aisle of the economy section.
First is C1C Mario Lazaga, followed by Sgt. Arnulfo de Mesa, and
then, Sgt. Claro Lat. The atmosphere is tense. Every one knows the
soldiers are looking for Senator Aquino, sitting quietly at Seat
14-B. The journalists, particularly, watch intensely as the soldiers
slowly make their way toward where Aquino is seated. TV and still
cameras are recording the event.
“Lazaga fails to espy Aquino and goes past
him. But de Mesa and Lat halt beside the ex-senator. Lat addresses
him: Boss, iniimbitahan kayo dito. . . Armed Forces. . .”
Aquino asks, ‘Saan tayo pupunta?’ Lat replies: ‘Dito, sumama
kayo sa akin.’ Aquino says, ‘Dalhin ko na ito, Brod,’
and bends down from his seat to get one of the bags at his seat, the
strap of which he is holding. De Mesa also stoops down and picks up
another bag of Aquino, which he hands over to Lazaga. As he stoops
he passes his right hand down the back of Aquino. Lat, in turn,
takes hold of Aquino’s other bag and slings it over his shoulder.
The soldiers then begin to steer Aquino toward the plane exit.”
The report said, “Senator Aquino and his
escorts go out of the door of the plane into the air bridge. But
instead of going forward along the tube toward the concrete part of
the jetway and thence to the concourse, Aquino is turned toward the
bridge door leading to the service staircase. He is brought out
through this door.”
Lat continued in an interview:
“Bago kami bumaba, huminto muna siya [Aquino]
sa platform ng staircase. Ako naman patingin-tingin sa ibang
direksyon kung meron ngang sniper. Sinabihan ko si Aquino na
‘bilisan mo at babarilin ka.’ Nakita ko namutla siya.”
Martinez and de Guzman recalled the event.
De Guzman said that was the only occasion they
were not allowed to disembark from the van in welcoming a VIP, which
he said was very unusual. “Usually sa baba kami para makita naming
kung sino ang suspicious person doon. Ang order na ’yon galing kay
Capt. Felipe Valerio.”
“A few minutes later,” Martinez said, “I
saw Sgt. Arnulfo de Mesa, ex-Senator Aquino, TS Sergeant Claro Lat,
Sgt. Rogelio Moreno and CIC Mario Lazaga descend the stairway. And
when they were on the tarmac to board a waiting van, Galman, with a
drawn hand gun, dashed behind the trio, poked his gun on the left
side head of the ex-senator and fired it once, causing blood to
spout.
“Moments later I saw Sergeant de Mesa wrestle
the gun from Galman, followed by simultaneous gunshots from a
.45-caliber pistol fired by Sergeant de Guzman, hitting Galman’s
head and body. Then successive gunshots from M-16 rifles fired by
some airmen who had jumped out of the SWAT van.”
Aquino and Galman both lay dead on the tarmac.
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