Evelio Javier

Evelio Bellaflor Javier (October 31, 1942 – February 11, 1986) Evelio Javier's brother, Exequiel Javier, served as congressman from 1987 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2010 and governor from 1998 to 2001, and 2010 to 2015. In 2018, Javier was identified as a Motu Proprio human rights violations victim of the Martial Law Era by the Human Rights Victims Claims Board.

Early life and marriage Evelio Bellaflor Javier was born on October 31, 1942, He finished grade school in San Jose Elementary School in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique and graduated high school with first honors and college in Ateneo de Manila University.

Governor of Antique Javier ran for governor of Antique and won in 1971 by one of the largest margins in history, making him, at the age of 28, the Philippines' youngest governor at that time. managing to escape and Javier's opponent Pacificador being spotted at the scene by eyewitnesses. This, along with the massive election fraud, prompted Javier's filing of a protest at the Supreme Court.

During the time of the elections, it was known that there were a lot of methods to compromise the voting results such as vote-buying and giving threats to voters. This did not only happen on the national level of elections, but also on the local elections. In the province of Antique, ballots of those who voted in the towns of Caluya, Cabate, Tibiao, Barbaza, Laua-an, and San Remigio were not placed in the boxes.

Javier became the provincial chairman of UNIDO-Laban. Being a critic of the Marcos administration, he campaigned for his opponent Corazon Aquino and her running mate Salvador Laurel in the 1986 snap elections.

After the counting of the ballots, Pacificador won as the assemblyman for Antique. However, Javier asked to rebuke the decision of the commission due to suspicions of compromising the results of the elections, which the Supreme Court eventually decided in his favor on September 22, 1986, seven months after his death and six months after the end of the Regular Batasang Pambansa.

Assassination and legacy At 10:00 in the morning of February 11, 1986, three or four masked gunmen riding in a Nissan Patrol jeep went to the New Capitol building in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique.

The toilet was owned by Leon Pe.

Murder case After Javier's assassination, his family filed charges against Pacificador, while the Ministry of Justice filed charges against the gunmen. By October 1986, the accusation consisted of 19 people; two noteworthy ones were Javier's rival Pacificador, and Avelino Javellana, his lawyer. Of these 19, at the time only 6 were apprehended and all others were at large including both Pacifador and Javellana. In May 1989, Javellana was arrested, but on his pleas of health and safety was not held in Antique jail, but to be followed by two police escorts to Iloilo Mission Hospital. However, before they could be transferred, the two police officers were recalled by an unforeseen emergency and was instead escorted by the Provincial Probation Officer of Antique. During this time, Javellana was placed under house arrest under Atty. Deogracias del Rosario. In 1995, Pacificador had resurfaced and was detained. Despite his detainment, Pacificador ran for governor of Antique in the 1995 election, but he lost by a wide margin to Exequiel Javier. Pacificador as well had petitioned for bail and was granted so in 1996. As with above this judge had ignored the witnesses claims and even Pacificador's own admission to being in the ambush site. In the 2000s, trials were once again opened for both of them, but these trials were once again suspended when Pacificador accused the judge of being biased against them. In 2004, the Antique Regional Trial Court acquitted Pacificador and three co-accused. However, Javellana and the others were convicted.

People Power Revolution The assassination of Javier fueled the People Power Revolution that happened weeks later on February 22, 1986, which ousted Ferdinand Marcos and made Corazon Aquino the President of the Philippines. Javier's body processed through Manila, passing Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, where he had thousands of friends and colleagues, days before the revolution.

Legacy Detail of the Wall of Remembrance at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, showing names from the first batch of Bantayog Honorees, including that of Evelio Javier. The day of his assassination is now marked as Governor Evelio B. Javier Day and is a special non-working public holiday in the provinces of Antique, Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo, the four provinces on Panay island.

In September 1986, Supreme Court Associate Justice Isagani Cruz wrote about Javier at the end of his decision in Javier vs. COMELEC:

An airport, Evelio Javier Airport, in San Jose, Antique, was named in honor of Javier.

In 1992, Javier was one of the first individuals to be honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, a monument dedicated to those who opposed the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.