Recalling the Evelio Javier assassination

By Herbert Vego

FORTY years have passed since the gruesome assassination of former Antique Governor Evelio B. Javier in San Jose, Antique on February 11, 1986. But the date has been permanently etched in history books as a prelude to the People Power revolution a few days later on February 22-25, 1986 that led to the fall of President Ferdinand Marcos and the rise of President Cory Aquino.

Since most of our readers had not been born yet in that epochal period in history,  I would like to summarize it.

I was then the 36-year-old editor-in-chief of a weekly regional newspaper and the newly-appointed Panay correspondent of the British news agency Reuters.

Reuters-Manila deskman Casiano Mayor had asked me to be the news agency’s Panay correspondent in view of alleged nationwide irregularities in the conduct of the February 7 “snap election” where re-electionist President Ferdinand Marcos appeared to be winning against Corazon C. Aquino.

At about 11:00 a.m. on February 11, my friend Imelda Griengo of La Editorial Printing Press telephoned, crying, “Evelio Javier was shot dead!”

Now realizing I really had an urgent job to do but was running out of time, I managed to ride with the “mobile patrol” of the radio station dyRP to the scene of the crime in San Jose, Antique.

Two hours later, we were standing in the bullet-riddled comfort room of a business establishment where Evelio Javier had been shot in cold blood. His body, no longer on the blood-drenched floor, had already been taken to the provincial hospital’s morgue for autopsy. Meanwhile, we interviewed a few eyewitnesses.

An eyewitness told me she had personally seen Javier running away from hooded men who were chasing him with gunfire at the capitol plaza while an onlooker was shouting,“Run, Evelio, run!”

Wounded, Javier managed to reach a CR and locked himself there. The CR’s tin door, unfortunately, proved to be no match to the assailants’ Armalite rifles.

We rushed to the morgue to take pictures of the bloodied Evelio.

Back to Iloilo at 5 p.m., I typed my report fast under time pressure, called up Reuters’ Manila office and dictated it. It was the fastest way to transmit a story from Iloilo to Manila in those days.

After taking my dictation, the Reuters lady on the line asked me not to worry about sending my roll of film on the last flight, since she had already bought a photograph from a foreign photographer who had flown back to Manila from San Jose, Antique on a private plane.

I woke up the following day in time to see the Metro Manila newspapers being spread out on Iloilo sidewalks. Some of them carried my story which began with three quoted words, “Run, Evelio, run!”

A number of Philippine Army soldiers were eventually arrested, charged and jailed together with the alleged mastermind, then Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador, who was eventually acquitted for lack of evidence.

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ANOTHER SAFETY INFO FROM MORE POWER

IN the latest FB-live presentation of “MORE Power at Your Service,” show host Angel Tan had Engr. Louie Capospos as resource person.  He is the manager of the Technical Services Division of MORE Electric and Power Corporation.

In discussing about preventive maintenance to keep power reaching consumers 24/7, Capospos focused on the company’s acquisition of thermal scanning cameras that are critical for substation maintenance, utilizing infrared technology to detect, visualize, and analyze heat anomalies in equipment like transformers, circuit breakers, and power lines. This allows linemen to repair or replace them.

The procedure prevents equipment failure, reduces downtime, and enhances safety by identifying hotspots that indicate electrical resistance, overloading, or, in some cases, a lack of heat, which may signal a malfunction.

Non-contact, remote monitoring – at least twice a week — prevents personnel from accessing dangerous, high-voltage equipment directly.

Capospos revealed that continuous monitoring may soon be available with more modern CCTV-like thermal cameras.