he 13 soldiers
serving life terms for the killing of Ninoy Aquino and Rolando Galman should not
be treated as a football in the political skirmishing between the Aquino family
and President Gloria Arroyo.
They are qualified for pardon after serving the minimum 12
years in prison. Many of them are afflicted with life-threatening illness. The
grant of clemency should not be held hostage to the fortunes of warring
political families, factions or groups.
Sen. Benigno Aquino III believes the proposed pardon for the
13 is Arroyo’s way of getting back at his mother, former President Corazon
Aquino, for calling on the President to resign after the "Hello Garci" tapes
were exposed. The senator may have good grounds for his suspicion. Gloria is
indeed vindictive, and she does not forget perceived slights and insults easily.
But that’s Gloria. She is no Cory who wears her emotions on
her sleeve. In Cory, what one sees is one what one gets. Her position on the
possible clemency for the convicted killers of her husband, unfortunately, does
not reflect her demonstrated sense of compassion.
Cory has repeatedly said she has forgiven her husband’s
killers. All she wants is for the mastermind or masterminds to be named.
Her position is understandable. There has been no closure to
the Aquino-Galman killings. Justice has yet to be fully served.
But do the soldiers indeed hold the key to the identities of
the masterminds? They have been inside the maximum security section of Bilibid
all these years, and not one has come forward despite the promise of early
liberty if they do so. It simply is contrary to human nature.
The soldiers conceivably were more patsies than conspirators.
They were ordinary soldiers; they could not have been privy to a closely held,
high-level conspiracy.
If in fact they are telling the truth – that they shot Galman
after the latter killed Aquino – then letting them rot in jail is piling another
injustice on top of the failure to bring to justice those who ordered Aquino
killed.
Parenthetically, Mrs. Aquino was president for six years. We
understand she made no extra-ordinary effort to seek the truth behind the
Supreme Court-affirmed ruling that the soldiers were part of a conspiracy to
kill Aquino. The tracks have since become colder.
Justice probably will stay elusive in the lifetime of the families of the
victims and of the perpetrators. In its absence, there should be room for
compassion for the 13 soldiers.
