Word: avsecom
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...realized that we could no longer discourage him from coming." Thereupon a decision was made to arrest Aquino on the basis of a 1977 death sentence for murder and subversion. To facilitate that move, Ver said, he turned over documents to General Luther Custodio, commander of Aviation Security Command (AVSECOM), that "affirmed" Aquino's death sentence...
...testimony, Balang questioned that Galman could have pulled the trigger. "I heard a shot, and when I looked back, the man in white [Aquino] was falling down," Balang recounted. "At that moment, I saw [Galman] just standing there parallel to Aquino, surrounded by members of the Aviation Security Command (AVSECOM). He was smiling. He was partly hidden, but the palms of his hands were open as though he was handing something to them. Then I heard a shot and saw Galman fall down ... from what I saw, Galman had no chance to even approach Aquino...
...decision to speak out was prompted, in part, by a statement four days earlier by Reuben Regalado, 25, also a mechanic at Philippine Airlines. In a television interview in Tokyo, Regalado claimed that he had seen Galman stand ing with a group of soldiers near one of two AVSECOM vehicles. Regalado said he had an unimpeded view of the stairway as Aquino debarked, flanked by two AVSECOM escorts. Regalado could recall no one directly beneath the plane's fuse lage or under the stairway...
...shot - rather, he "was knocked down by a bullet as he held a gun with two hands over his head." Though the TV report was not aired in the Philippines, and is not admissible as official testimony, it received coverage in Manila newspapers. Lawyers acting on behalf of the AVSECOM troopers involved promptly filed a $350,000 criminal libel suit against Regalado. Fearing for his life, Regalado said he would remain in hiding...
...government reacted quickly. In an interview with the Tokyo daily Mainichi Shimbun, Marcos called the airline workers' statements "altogether unfounded - lies." Declared Rodolfo Jimenez, counsel for the AVSECOM witnesses, of Ba lang's testimony: "It amounts to nothing...