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Today in PH History, Feb. 11, 1986, former Antique governor Evelio Javier was shot

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On this day of 1986, former Antique governor Evelio Javier, along with his friends, was shot in broad daylight at San Jose Plaza (now Evelio Javier Freedom Park). He then fled towards a nearby building where he was eventually finished off with multiple shots while hiding inside a toilet.

Evelio Bellaflor Javier served as governor of the province of Antique and was an opponent of the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. His assassination on February 11, 1986 was one of the causes of the People Power Revolution that overthrew Marcos. 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.

“Evelio was the youngest governor in the Philippines when elected in 1973 at age 29. He was then a law professor in Ateneo where he also attended his high school and earned his BA in History and Bachelor of Laws. While in Ateneo, he was a student council leader and later editor-in-chief of law school publication. He was also a Ford Foundation scholar for his Master in Public Administration.”

“In the bloody election of 1984, Evelio Javier ran for Assemblyman of Antique but lost to Pacificador. It was also that time when the infamous Pangpang massacre happened where seven of his campainers were killed in an ambush on the eve of May 1984 elections by armed men and rouged PC personnel under Pacificador in Pangpang Bridge, Sibalom, Antique.”

“Javier protested the results of 1984 election and the Supreme Court affirmed in its decision on September 1986 that indeed he was cheated and he was the truly elected Assemblyman. But it was too late as he was already dead.”

His youthful vigor and heroism will never be forgotten. 

Article: John Ver Galindo Sosas

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