Senator Mar Roxas on Friday backed up the disappointment expressed by colleague Sen. Noynoy Aquino in granting clemency to M/Sgt Pablo Martinez, a self-confessed military officer who had allowed the late hitman Rolando Galman to enter the airport tarmac on the day Ninoy Aquino was assassinated.
He said it is confusing to the Filipino people the honor bestowed by the Philippine government to Ninoy's heroism at the height of dictatorial regime, yet it allows one of the murderers to go free.
"Martinez admitted that he helped Rolando Galman enter the airport tarmac on that fateful day when Ninoy died. Even his fellow inmates point to him as the one most knowledgeable about the plot to assassinate Ninoy Aquino. His role in the killing of one of the country's heroes is undeniable. The full retribution of society is called for one of the most heinous crimes of the last century. The justification of old age to accord clemency simply cannot hold in this case," Roxas emphasized.
Roxas said that he strongly supported and even lauded the administration from granting pardon to former President Estrada, but he totally disagreed with the clemency extended to Martinez.
"Plunder can be repaid in cash and lifetime political stigma, the murder of a national hero must not be so easily forgiven. The timing of this pardon is also questionable. It comes a few days before Ninoy's birthday. It betrays insensitivity, if not a certain degree of callousness, on the part of the administration," the senator stressed.
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