Lawyer in Aquino Slaying Trial Says 2 Defendants Implicate Marcos, Wife

MANILA — A lawyer involved in the trial of 26 people charged in the slaying of Benigno S. Aquino Jr. said today that two defendants have now admitted their involvement and implicated Ferdinand E. Marcos, his wife, Imelda, and four Cabinet ministers.

One civilian and 25 military men, including former military chief of staff Gen. Fabian C. Ver, were acquitted of the charges in December by a three-judge panel.

But attorney Lupino Lazaro said that the two men have come forward since Marcos fled last week and gave him sworn statements implicating many others in the Aug. 21, 1983, assassination of President Corazon Aquino’s husband.

Those implicated “will include . . . definitely the president and the first lady,” Lazaro said in a telephone interview, referring to Marcos and his wife.

Lazaro said the sworn statements from the defendants indicated the trial had been rigged, and that Marcos had assured them beforehand that they would be acquitted.

Lazaro declined to identify the defendants who came forward, and would not elaborate on their involvement.

He said those implicated by the two defendants included former Tourism Minister Jose Aspiras, former Justice Minister Estelito Mendoza, former Information Minister Gregorio Cendana and another minister whom Lazaro said was in a “delicate position” and did not identify.

He said Jolly Bugarin, the director of the National Bureau of Investigation; and Balbino Diego, a colonel and chief legal officer of Marcos’ presidential command, also were implicated.

He said there was enough evidence in the statements to reopen the case, but that he would wait until Aquino appoints a new judiciary. Most members of the Philippines’ highest courts resigned Tuesday to give Aquino’s week-old government a free hand in revamping the judicial system, which was composed of Marcos appointees.

In a related development, the Philippine News Agency reported today that members of the court that presided over the original trial had agreed to resign.

None of the nine justices comprising the tribunal, which normally handles cases of graft and corruption against government officials and employees, was available for comment.

The news agency said the justices agreed during a meeting called by the court’s presiding justice, Manuel Pamaran, to hand in their resignations to Aquino.

Pamaran headed the three-member division that acquitted Ver and the others last Dec. 2 after throwing out the main evidence gathered by a civilian board that investigated the slaying.

Aquino has maintained that Marcos was her “No. 1 suspect” in the killing of her husband.