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Refusing to leave the past behind

EDITORIAL

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03/10/2009

It has been at least a quarter of a century since the case of the assassination of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. went to court for trial — and twice over, which really goes against the grain of the double jeopardy principle.

It will be recalled that under the Marcos regime, the Sandiganbayan heard the case against the accused troops, mostly belonging to the then Metrocom, and the court had acquitted them.

After the Edsa revolt, which came some two years after, with a new government installed, a trial against the same accused and on the same crime, was ordered by the regime. Not surprisingly, the Sandiganbayan now under a new regime, heard the case and convicted the accused who were ordered jailed, and where they languished for years.

If that is not double jeopardy, then what is?

It cannot be denied that the case of the killing of Aquino was a political issue and it can also be argued that the accused soldiers could have been acquitted because Marcos wielded a lot of influence over the courts and the Ombudsman during his time.

Still, no matter the political atmosphere, the fact remained that the court did acquit these soldiers and under the law, once acquitted, they can’t be tried again for the same crime, whether they were really innocent or really guilty.

But as the widow of the slain Aquino rose to power, suddenly the rules on double jeopardy changed. These soldiers were again charged with the same crime and, not surprisingly, given the politics of the day, the court found the accused guilty.

That should have been sufficient. But no. All these years, the question of who is the mastermind of the assassination is asked. And it does not help any that the Public Attorney’s Office chief, one Persida Acosta, keeps up with the stupidity of insisting that the soldiers are innocent and that the mastermind of the assassination has yet to be unmasked. Does she have proof to have this case reopened?

It is stupid because this case is a quarter of a century old. If Ninoy’s widow, Corazon Aquino, who became President for six and a half years by virtue of a revolt, with all the resources at her beck and call could not single out the alleged mastermind, and if the chief of the Metrocom then, or Marcos’ Integrated National Police chief and Vice Armed Forces of the Philippines Gen. Fidel Ramos, had another six years in the presidential office, and with neither Aquino nor Ramos, in control of all the resources and the intelligence community, succeeding in determing who the mastermind is, why is this issue being revived year after year?

The last batch of convicted soldiers has been freed, while some have died and most are sick with some disease or other. Yet there are still some sectors of society that cry injustice, due to their release from prison.

What they insist on is for these soldiers to confess just who the mastermind is, or at least admit that they killed Aquino.

But if, for the past 25 years, none of them — save one —admitted to having killed Ninoy, why should they be expected to change their tune, even if they stayed in jail till they die?

And Acosta, who apparently is a publicity hound, insists that despite the release of these convicts, there is no closure as she insists that the mastermind has not been unmasked. That it is publicity she is after is evident. She is taking the word of one convict on the identity of the mastermind, but she also knows that this can hardly be proven and it certainly does not wash. Not even the family buys that line. Besides, how is it that the other convicts never corroborated this tale Acosta keeps harping on?

But isn’t a quarter of a century in jail for these convicts enough payment for the debt they owe society?

The sad part of it all is that those who insist it is an injustice to release these convicts appear to want the punishment to go on forever and they refuse to leave the past behind, which is why the nation can’t grow.

Even sadder is the fact that while they condemn the release of high-profile convicts, they embrace the elite crooks who have scammed the Filipino people in every way, and make out these crooks both in and out of government as saints.