The Death of a Hero

On August 21, 1983, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. was fatally shot to the ground as he exited the plane.

Rolando Galman, the alleged assassin, was also immediately gunned down by personnel of the Aviation Security Command.

Upon investigation, however, another passenger named Rebecca Quijano testified that she saw a man, who was wearing a military uniform right behind Ninoy, shoot him at the back of his head. A post-mortem analysis confirmed that Ninoy was indeed shot from the back, at close range.

Speculations of a conspiracy by the Marcos government instantaneously spread. After investigations, 25 military men were arrested including then Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fabian Ver. After a seemingly unending trial process, only 16 were sentenced to reclusion perpetua on September 28, 1990.