The Assassination of Evelio Javier
A few minutes after 10:00 a.m. today, thirty years ago, a man was gunned down near the Antique Provincial Capitol Building at the town of San Jose Buenavista. It was a Tuesday then, in 1986, when three hooded men armed with guns alighted from their Nissan Patrol Jeep and opened fire in broad daylight. They attempted to shoot at Evelio Javier and his friends. In the attempt, Javier and his friends immediately docked. Javier was wounded on his left shoulder, but immediately scampered to safety, away from his friends. As the man bleeded, he ran as fast as he could across the 50-meter plaza from the Capitol. The hooded men chased him with bullets. He struggled and fell, but managed to get into a restroom of a shop owned by a Chinese named Leon Pe. The restroom apparently was 100 meters away from when Javier was initially shot. There in the restroom, Javier was cornered. He was then shot to his death with 24 armalite bullets. After he laid dead on the tiled floor, one of the gunman, unmasked himself and even shouted “Can you recognize me? Stand up and fight!”
The mastermind of the assassination was the former assemblyman Arturo Pacificador, a close ally of President Ferdinand Marcos. And Javier? He was only a civilian when he was killed. But in 1971, when he was 28 years old, Javier was elected as governor of Antique, the youngest governor in Philippine history.
Evelio hailed from Hamtic, Antique. Finishing Bachelor of Arts Major in History and Government at the Ateneo College of Arts and Sciences in 1963, he completed his Law studies in 1968 and subsequently passed the Bar Exam. In 1971, he was elected to the governor post in a landslide vote, at the time when martial law was not yet in force. Under his governance, Antique made a mark through his program Antique Upland Development Program (now the Evelio B. Javier Upland Development Program), a successful government program that became the first model for sustainable development strategies in developing countries.
In the lead up to a possible re-election in 1980, Javier instead went on the sidelines and took the opportunity to study in the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University under a scholarship grant in 1981. When the legislative elections of May 1984 approached, Evelio Javier ran for assemblyman against Arturo Pacificador, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan’s candidate and therefore a Marcos ally. On May 13, 1984, on the eve of the elections, some of Javier’s supporters were killed allegedly by Pacificador’s men. Seven suspects, including Pacificador, then faced trial for the murder. The tension therefore was heightened, as Antiqueños feared the situation, which was also rampant in provinces where strongmen of President Marcos ruled the countryside like warlords. As such, the electorate in the province of Antique was intimidated into supporting the candidate under KBL. COMELEC’s Second Division proceeded in declaring Pacificador the winner of the election as assemblyman for Antique. Nevertheless, Javier bravely went to COMELEC and questioned the election results, saying that the announcement should be proclaimed by COMELEC en banc and not only by the second division.
It was in this context, and the violent military interventions among the precincts during the Snap Election that Javier was murdered. As an act of defiance, thousands of people in Antique mourned for the passing of Javier, and joined the funeral procession publicly, wearing yellow shirts and tying yellow bands on their wrists.
As the world watched on what was happening in the elections in the Philippines via broadcast, thousands more assembled in protest on the streets of Manila, echoing the name of the fallen Antiqueño statesman.
The people’s patience was about to reach its limit, as the county is pushed on the brink of a revolution.
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution of February 1986, a peaceful revolution that ended an oppressive dictatorship in the Philippines, to the shock of the entire world.
Photo above:
(1) Evelio Javier during his campaign for assemblyman in 1984.
(2) Another funeral turns into a protest demonstration as cause-oriented groups unfurl their flags during the march through major Metro Manila streets in mourning for Evelio Javier. Photo by Roger der Lara, courtesy of the Presidential Museum and Library
(3) Supporters of Evelio Javier in the streets of Makati. Photo by Emmanuel Mercado, courtesy of the Presidential Museum and Library.
