PHILIPPINES: GALMAN'S SON TELLS COURT MILITARY TOOK HIS FATHER AWAY BEFORE AQUINO MURDER.

Record ID: 629842

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: GALMAN'S SON TELLS COURT MILITARY TOOK HIS FATHER AWAY BEFORE AQUINO MURDER.
  • Date: 14th March 1985
  • Summary: 1. GV & CU Judges and court insignia. (2 SHOTS) 0.08 2. SV PAN & SVs Reynaldo Galman enters court and goes into witness box, takes oath. (3 SHOTS) 0.47 3. GVs Crowd watches as he points out defendant. (SHOTS) 1.00 4. SVs PAN Judges look on as Reynaldo Galman gives evidence. (2 SHOTS) 1.24 5. SV Defendants leaving court. 1.30 TRANSCRIPT: GALMAN: (THROUGH INTERPRETER
  • Embargoed: 29th March 1985 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7W5ML7ELMKUOERWLCHG7B4NKL
  • Story Text: MANILA, PHILIPPINES

    Reynaldo Galman, the 11-year-old son of the man the military said shot Philippines opposition leader Benigno Aquino, sobbed as he told a court on March 13 that his father was taken away by an air force colonel and three men four days before the murder. Reynaldo said it was the last time he saw his father, who was gunned down seconds after the murder of Aquino at Manila Airport on August 21, 1983. The military said Rolando Galman was a Communist hitman hired to kill Aquino, but the opposition and an inquiry board have dismissed the official version of events. Reynaldo was testifying at the trial of armed forces chief General Fabian Ver and 25 other men in connection with the killing. They have denied the charges. A court interpreter, who translated Reynaldo's testimony into English and several women spectators, wiped away tears during Reynaldo's evidence. Presiding Judge Manuel Pamaran, dubbed "The Hanging Judge" for his tough sentences looked misty-eyed as Reynaldo said Air Force Colonel Arturo Custodio, businessman Hermilo Gosucio and two other men came to his home in a village north of Manila on August 17, 1983, and took his father away. He pointed out Gosucio, who was among the accused, but was not asked to identify Custodio. The sobbing boy also told the court his mother had disappeared. He said Lima Lazaro, Galman's girlfriend, was picked up by four men in January 1984 a day before she was due to give evidence to the board investigating the killings.

    <strong>Source: REUTERS - MANUEL SILVA</strong>
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register