The State - News from June 20, 1985

The woman who broke a 20-month silence last week to testify that she saw a Philippine soldier shoot dissident leader Benigno Aquino arrived in San Francisco in a quest for asylum. Rebecca Manalang Quijano, who has been called the “crying lady” because she was seen sobbing hysterically moments after Aquino was shot two years ago, was greeted by five brothers. She was a passenger on the same plane as Aquino, chief rival of Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, the day Aquino was shot. Quijano, who will live in the family home in Los Altos, told reporters that the events of Aug. 21, 1983, were “a nightmare.” Armed forces chief Gen. Fabian C. Ver, and 25 others are on trial in the murders of Aquino and Rolando Galman, an alleged Communist who the military claimed was the assassin. The U.S. Embassy granted Quijano a “parole”--documentation similar to that given refugees--which is a first step to permanent status.