Archimedes Trajano

Newspaper article with headline of President Marcos declaring Martial Law

Archimedes Trajano was a student activist. Trajano was based in Manila, and had been studying in the Mapua Institute of Technology. In his time, Martial Law was in full effect in the Philippines. The Martial Law was declared by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972. During this period, violations of human rights were rampant. Some of the relevant cases of human rights violations are "The Group of the 21" case, and "The Group of Three" case, which is also known as The Piopongco case. This was made possible by the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus that legitimized the arrest and torture of people deemed enemies of the state.

The following is a historical account from ABS-CBN News. On Wednesday, August 31, 1977, an open forum was held in the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila) where Imee Marcos, the eldest daughter of President Ferdinand Marcos, was the speaker. Thousands of students gathered for the forum. Among them was Archimedes Trajano. In the forum, Trajano, who was 21 years old at the time, questioned the appointment of Imee Marcos as the director of the Kabataang Barangay (National Youth Council). He asked, “Must the Kabataang Barangay (National Youth Council) be headed by the president’s daughter? She would not have gotten the position if she weren't the daughter of the president." Imee Marcos was irritated by these questions. Soon after, Trajano was forcibly thrown out of the open forum by her bodyguards. The forum would be where Trajano was last seen alive.

On September 2, 1977, Trajano was found dead. Signs of beating and torture were apparent as his body and face was severely mangled. Agapita Trajano testifies, "He was covered in a white sheet, lying on a table. And when I opened the sheet . . . I saw him black and blue”. Trajano's death was not reported in local newspapers. An article released in an issue of the Bulletin Today the day after his death simply talked of deaths in college campuses due to hazings conducted by fraternities.

On March 20, 1986, Agapita Trajano filed a case against Imee Marcos and Fabian Ver, the spy chief of President Marcos, in Hawaii, which was nine years after the death of Archimedes Trajano, because the Marcoses were not in power anymore. Marcos and Ver were charged with false imprisonment, kidnapping, wrongful death, and the deprivation of rights of Archimedes Trajano. Imee Marcos defended herself by claiming immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. This act exempts foreign agents from prosecution. However, the court denied her arguments for two reasons: one, the crime was committed beyond the scope of her official work and duties, and; two, she did not act upon the authority of the government but acted on her own authority.

Ultimately, The Hawaiian court ruled in Trajano's favor. Their decision stated: “…judgment was entered based on the court’s findings that Trajano was tortured and his death was caused by Marcos-Manotoc." The court concluded that this violation of fundamental human rights constitutes a tort in violation of the law of nations under 28 U.S.C. § 1350, and awarded damages of $4.16 million and attorneys’ fees pursuant to Philippine law.” The case exposed the faults of the act of state doctrine, and paved ways for similar suits to be filed.

However, Trajano was not able to receive the payment from Marcos because the Philippine Supreme Court barred the decision. The Trajanos attempted to collect the money by filing a case in the Pasig Regional Trial Court. The court summoned Marcos but she did not appear. The court subsequently ruled in favor of the Trajanos by default. Afterwards, Imee Marcos filed a case to the Supreme Court, stating that the summons on her was invalid.