Ninoy Aquino Assasination: ‘To get to the mastermind, you must follow the money’

This article is part of the 7-series special report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, researched and written by Fe Zamora. However, what I found out was that the article was already deleted from the archives/database of PDI. Url: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080826-156826/To-get-to-the-mastermind-you-must-follow-the-money We cannot assume of their reasons or forces behind this action. PDI has copyright of this article and the entire series. Should PDI want it deleted, speedy action is assured.

I am just reposting the article from the copy archived by Web Archive.

SPECIAL REPORT
‘To get to the mastermind, you must follow the money’

By Fe Zamora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:03:00 08/26/2008
Read Part 1: Fewer than 10 people in plot; 5 core, 5 others 'in the know'
Read Part 2: Marcos: 'My best successor is Ninoy'
Read Part 3: The Pattugalan Memos on Project 'Four Flowers'
Read Part 4: 4 innocents picked up, never to be seen again
Read Part 5: The most suspicious soldier on the tarmac
(Sixth of a series)
(Editor’s Note: This part of the series is based on interviews with ex-Col. Irwin Ver, former commander of the Presidential Guards, the uniformed component of the Presidential Security Command (PSC); retired Col. Necitas Katigbak, former chief of the now defunct Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police (PC-INP) component attached to the Aviation Security Command (Avsecom); retired Air Force Sgt. Ruben Catimbuhan, driver of the van used by Team Alpha; Msgr. Roberto Olaguer, chaplain of the New Bilibid Prison; and the sworn statement of ex-Sgt. Claro Lat, one of the 16 soldiers convicted in the Aquino-Galman case. Three sources—a retired major, who talked to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on a golf course in Cavite, a retired Constabulary general and an active Army colonel—requested anonymity when they shared their insights in a series of interviews in coffee shops in Quezon City.)
If you want to know the triggerman, follow the relationships. If you want to know the mastermind, follow the money.
This was the tip given by police and military sources in the course of the Inquirer research into the assassination of opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. on Aug. 21, 1983, at the then Manila International Airport.
The advice of the sources: Start with Rolando Galman, whom the military had tagged as the triggerman, and work backward. Or, start with Constable Rogelio Moreno, whom the Sandiganbayan had identified as the assassin. Moreno was directly behind Aquino as he was led down the airport’s service stairs leading to the tarmac when the shooting occurred.
Keep scratching, the sources continued. Peel away the layers, and you’ll find something there.
Among top military officers in the 1970s and 1980s, the name Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco was synonymous with “money.”
Even the dictator Ferdinand Marcos would endorse Cojuangco to any officer who needed help. Marcos only wanted two things: The officer must fully disclose his problem; and the solution to be taken must be legal.
As a lawyer and a seasoned legislator, Marcos was a stickler for legal procedures. It had to be legally right, even if not morally sound.
A Constabulary officer charged with illegal detention was asked by Marcos what exactly had happened. After telling his side of the incident, Marcos told him: “Tell Danding to get you the best lawyer.”
The officer went to Cojuangco, who then hired one of the high-profile lawyers in Manila. The officer was acquitted.
Cojuangco’s clout
When Cojuangco needed a fresh batch of security men for his farm’s expansion, he sent a team to study the ways of the Israeli commando at his expense. Among those who went to Israel were PSC Maj. Wyrlo Ver, son of PSC chief and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Fabian C. Ver; and Col. Maximo Mejia of the Constabulary command in Bulacan.
Cojuangco’s generosity was such that officers sought his help for repairs of their offices, construction of new buildings, purchase of new vehicles, hospitalization, and most specially in getting assignments.
An aspiring provincial commander who was not in the good graces of the governor or congressman would be better off if he had Cojuangco on his side. He was close to Marcos, that was the reality
Cojuangco was also a pilot, a reserve colonel in the Air Force and an honorary member of Class 1951 of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). The other honorary members of the class included General Ver, then Philippine Air Force (PAF) chief Lt. Gen. Vicente Piccio, then Philippine Navy (PN) chief Rear Adm. Simeon Alejandro. Then PC-INP chief Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, who graduated from the US Military Academy in West Point in 1951, was considered a regular member of the class.
CIS investigates
On the night of Aug. 21, Marcos directed the Criminal Investigation Service (CIS) to investigate the Aquino assassination. He relieved the Avsecom chief, Brig. Gen. Luther Custodio, and ordered some 40 Avsecom personnel restricted to barracks while the probe was under way.
But instead of the Military Police serving as security of the suspects, Piccio assigned the rest of the Avsecom troops who were not placed under investigation as “security” for their comrades in arms.
During the investigation, the Avsecom men were free to visit their families or even sleep in their homes provided they return to the stockade the next day.
Capt. Felipe Valerio, the commander of the Avsecom’s special operations squadron, was provided with a “safe house” in Fort Bonifacio. PAF Col. Arturo Custodio was allowed to go home to Quezon City every night with a security detail.
By then, Colonel Custodio had been identified as one of the four persons who fetched Galman from his house in San Miguel, Bulacan. Colonel Custodio hailed from Zaragosa, Nueva Ecija, while Brigadier General Custodio came from Silay City, Negros Occidental.
The other soldiers drove away their boredom in bars along Roxas Boulevard, oftentimes closing the bars themselves at dawn. They were secured by fellow Avsecom troops.
Weekends meant happy hour for the boys, always with beer and lechon (roasted pig) supposedly sent by supporters of the Marcos family.
Fat allowances
Fat allowances replaced the soldiers’ salaries, which were suspended during the investigation by the Agrava Fact-Finding Board in 1984 and the trial by the Sandiganbayan in 1985. Marcos created the Agrava Board to conduct a preliminary investigation of the assassination prior to the court trial.
There was just so much money that on one occasion, ex-Sgt. Claro Lat asked Colonel Custodio, where the money was coming from.
The colonel told Lat that they were, in fact, spending part of the money that should have been paid to Galman.
According to Lat, Colonel Custodio said Galman only received a down payment of P50,000 for the contract to kill Aquino.
Since Galman was killed by soldiers after he supposedly killed Aquino, there was an outstanding balance of P100,000 from the contract. Custodio said they would just spend the balance on beer.
Money from 2 cronies
On yet another occasion, Lat also asked Brigadier General Custodio where their allowance and money for food, drinks and entertainment was coming from.
The Avsecom chief, who was under house arrest, reportedly replied: “From Roberto Benedicto and Danding Cojuangco.”
Like Cojuangco, Benedicto was a Marcos crony with vast holdings in the sugar and broadcast industries.
The Avsecom chief reportedly said that the two Marcos cronies had given P20 million each. The Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force and Philippine Navy also contributed to the kitty for the Avsecom men. Only the Philippine Constabulary under Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos did not help, Lat quoted Custodio as saying.
The Avsecom chief reportedly told Lat that the soldiers’ daily expenses were drawn from the cronies’ money that had been deposited in the bank by Col. Romeo Ochoco.
Money for the Avsecom soldiers had turned their “restricted to barracks” status into a grand vacation with pay.
Acquittal, retrial
On Nov. 29, 1985, the Sandiganbayan acquitted all the soldiers accused in the Aquino-Galman case. The court ruled that Galman, a hit man of the communist New People’s Army, had shot Aquino. According to the ruling, the soldiers were justified in shooting down Galman because “the situation calls for it.”
The Avsecom soldiers returned to their respective units and their salaries were restored. They were also paid back wages for the two years that they were “restricted to the barracks.”
After the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship, the Supreme Court approved the reopening of the Aquino-Galman case on the grounds that Marcos had pressured the Sandiganbayan headed by Presiding Justice Manuel Pamaran into acquitting the 26 accused.
In September 1990, the Sandiganbayan headed by Justice Regino Hermosisima convicted 16 military men led by Brigadier General Custodio for the Aquino-Galman murders. They were meted double life terms each.
The court also said Aquino was shot on the service stairs by Constable Moreno.
Lone wolf
If the triggerman was Moreno, it would seem like he was a lone wolf.
Moreno was one of the four soldiers that the PC-INP’s Metropolitan Command (Metrocom) assigned on “special duty” to the Avsecom on Aug. 21. Three days earlier, the Avsecom requested the Metrocom for men who were matangkad (tall) and matipuno (stocky). On Aug. 19, the Metrocom submitted four names—M/Sgt. Faustino Valez, Sgt. Danilo Macaroyo, Constable Mario Lazaga and Moreno.
On Aug. 20, the four soldiers were told to report to the Tactical Operations Center of the Avsecom at 6 a.m. of the following day. They were told that they were needed as escorts by Brigadier General Custodio who was going on an inspection tour of the airports.
In a briefing on Aug. 21, General Custodio told Moreno and the other soldiers that they would constitute the boarding party that would escort Aquino from the airplane. Custodio showed the four soldiers a picture of Aquino so they would be able to identify the opposition leader.
According to police and military sources, a plot of such magnitude would only succeed with utmost trust and confidence among the participants, in this case, the Avsecom soldiers. But Moreno was with the PC-INP—an outsider as far as the Avsecom was concerned.
Who was Moreno’s handler?
If Moreno was the designated triggerman, who gave him the orders? Who was the handler?
While Sgt. Arnulfo de Mesa, Lat and Lazaga searched Aquino from among the passengers, Moreno was left standing on the doorway leading to the service stairs. He rejoined the group on its way down the stairs. He was positioned directly behind Aquino on the stairs.
According to Moreno, he was walking on the tarmac behind Lat who was holding Aquino’s right arm. Moreno said he was still directly behind Aquino when he heard a shot. He also saw a man in blue (Galman) in a scuffle with De Mesa.
The Avsecom soldiers fled the crime scene immediately after Aquino and Galman were shot. For his part, Moreno said he ran toward the airport terminal and proceeded to the Customs and Immigration Quarantine (CIQ) office. He was still there when the CIS team arrived to begin its investigation.
Moreno had no criminal record. He was not “lacking in initiative.” He would only take legal orders through the chain of command in the PC-INP, and from the Air Force, according to military and police sources.
Offers rebuffed
Even his fellow inmates have refused to point to Moreno as Aquino’s assailant.
During the Aquino administration, then Natural Resources Secretary Ernesto Maceda offered Lat money and freedom if he would point to Moreno as the gunman. Lat rejected the offer.
Similar offers were also made by Butz Aquino and Totoy Aquino, a brother and a nephew, respectively, of the slain senator. They were rebuffed by the convicts.
In 1992, just before President Corazon Aquino’s term ended, lawyer Mario Ongkiko visited the convicts in Muntinlupa with the same proposal. The inmates rejected Ongkiko’s proposal.
To this day, the convicts maintain it was Galman who shot Aquino.


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