The Philippines: Better Late Than Never

"I saw the soldier point the gun at the nape of the man in white," Manila Airport Worker Jessie Barcelona told a hushed Manila courtroom last week. "The gun went off. The man in white toppled forward." The man in white was Benigno (Ninoy) Aquino Jr., the Philippine opposition leader whose assassination in 1983 gave the initial spark to the rebellion that later ousted President Ferdinand Marcos and installed in his place Aquino's widow Corazon.

Barcelona, who came forward after four years of silence, is the first $ person to claim that he actually witnessed Aquino's slaying. The airport worker said he was in a tow truck 50 ft. from the opposition leader when he saw one of Marcos' soldiers fire the fatal shot. Barcelona's testimony emerged during the trial of 40 defendants, including 36 military men, for Aquino's murder. Why didn't Barcelona tell his story earlier? "I felt my life was in danger," he explained in an affidavit.