10 Philippine Soldiers in Aquino Killing Released

By OLIVER TEVES / AP WRITER

MANILA — Clemency has been granted to 10 former soldiers convicted in the assassination of Philippine opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., which triggered massive protests culminating in the 1986 ouster of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The 10 men walked out of the national penitentiary Wednesday accompanied by Percida Acosta, head of the Justice Department's Public Attorney's Office, who had worked for their release.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo commuted their sentences and the Justice Department considered good conduct and time allowances to make them eligible for clemency.

The men were among 16 soldiers, including a general, convicted for the slaying of Marcos' archrival. The general and two others died in prison and three were earlier pardoned.

The children of an assassinated Philippine opposition leader are accusing the president of denying them justice by pardoning 10 former soldiers convicted of the 1983 murder.

Sen. Benigno Aquino III suggested Thursday that Arroyo was hitting back at his mother, former President Corazon Aquino, for joining opposition calls demanding Arroyo step down because of vote-rigging allegations.

His sister, popular TV host Kris Aquino, also said she was hurt by Arroyo's decision.

Aquino was shot to death on August 21, 1983, moments after soldiers escorted him from a plane on his return from exile in the United States to lead the opposition.

His death unleashed a wave of protests, culminating in the "people power" revolt that toppled Marcos and installed Aquino's widow as president.

The men were acquitted in their first trial under Marcos. The court ruled Aquino was slain by a supposed communist hitman, Rolando Galman, who then was killed by security guards.

After Marcos was ousted, the Supreme Court nullified the acquittals and ordered a new trial.

In 1987, a court convicted the 16 soldiers of killing both Aquino and Galman and sentenced them to 40 years in prison. The trial failed to establish the mastermind, but speculation has long focused on Marcos, who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989.