Rolando Galman was said to have been a thoughtful brother and neighbor, and Rogelio Moreno a caring husband and father. Both men were once farmers.

The two men were also accused of firing the single shot that killed opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. on Aug 21, 1983, at the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport.

Along with Aquino, Galman fell dead on the spot, his body shot by soldiers 16 times. Moreno is still alive, but was convicted of the accusation along with several others.

Senator Aquino's murder in broad daylight at the heavily guarded tarmac sparked anger among Filipinos that led to the downfall of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986.

The mastermind remains unknown, but the true identity of the gunman could provide clues to what's been called the country's greatest unsolved mystery.

They called him Lando

Barangay Bagong Silang in San Miguel, Bulacan is a farming community in the middle of a vast field. Back in 1978, it was even more remote. The arrival of a migrant-farmer from Nueva Ecija that year didn't go unnoticed.

His name was Rolando Galman, and the locals called him Lando. He raised pigs and farmed like everyone else, but the house he and his common-law-wife Lina built was better than most: it was made of concrete, not just wood and straw.

Galman was a generous man, as many long-time Bagong Silang residents remember. "We would run to Lando if we were short on cash," one neighbor said.

Another said Galman helped her with medicines. Another one recalled how he sent Christmas presents to all the children on the street. He served spaghetti for the neighbors on his birthdays.

"Of course we wondered where he got the money," a long-time resident said. "But we never asked. All that mattered was that he was generous to us."

Galman's visitors

They also wondered about the people who visited Galman in cars at all hours. The roads weren't paved, so the arrival of any vehicle was a source of curiosity.

When news broke out that soldiers killed Galman at the tarmac for the murder of Aquino, no one in Barangay Bagong Silang believed he could do such a thing.

A kind man

Miles away in Nueva Ecija, Galman's mother and siblings did not believe it, either. "He could never do that. He was so kind and affectionate," Julie Galman-San Juan said of her eldest brother.

San Juan had not seen Galman for nearly a decade when he was peppered with bullets by members of the Aviation Security Command.

But she said she would always remember Galman with fondness. "He would often cook for us, he'd remind us to take care of our mother and study well. He said it didn't matter if we didn't have money as long as we loved each other."

A fact-finding team handpicked by Marcos led by retired Appellate Court Justice Corazon Agrava declared in October 1984, after several months of investigations, that Galman could not have been Aquino's assassin, prompting Aquino's military and police escorts and their superiors to face trial.

1st trial: 'Twas Galman

But on December 2, 1985 the Sandiganbayan acquitted the military men and instead pointed to Galman as the triggerman. Galman was a hit man of the New People's Army, government agents had said, reinforcing military intelligence reports that the communist rebels had wanted to kill the senator.

Nine months later, after the February 1986 People Power revolution swept Aquino's widow Corazon to the presidency, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial.

Second trial: 'Twas Moreno

On September 27, 1990, the Sandiganbayan cleared Galman, saying he was merely a fall guy.

Instead, Constable 1st Class Rogelio Moreno, one of Aquino's escorts, was identified as the gunman. Also found guilty of murder qualified by treachery were 14 other soldiers and policemen, as well as Brigadier General Luther Custodio, chief of the Aviation Security Command. The Supreme Court affirmed the verdict in 1991.

Moreno was just 27 years old when he was incarcerated. He left behind his new bride Alice and a one-year-old son. It was not the kind of life the couple imagined.

Youth, time is lost

"My father was a farmer and so was I," Moreno told ABS-CBN News in an interview. "But my dream was to become a policeman. One day, a neighbor told me enlistment was ongoing so I went to Camp Crame and applied for a job."

"I thought he would become a general one day," said Alice. "I married him because he was a caring person. He was a good father. He was studious and ambitious. But his career was cut short. Without a breadwinner, there were times we barely had food on the table."

Alice had to contend with neighborhood gossip that her husband was paid to assassinate Aquino. "I confronted them: 'Would we live in a house like this if my husband had been paid'?"

Alice Moreno says their decrepit home is proof that her husband is innocent. Gigi Grande, ABS-CBN News

Alice Moreno says their decrepit home is proof that her husband is innocent. Gigi Grande, ABS-CBN News

Powerful men's pawn?

In the 80s, Moreno thought his career at the Metropolitan Command was advancing. He was assigned to the security detail of local politicians and VIPs.

One day, Moreno was told he was handpicked to escort Aquino because of his height and built. "I looked good in a uniform and had experience with VIPs," he said. Looking back, he wishes he had never been chosen.

Then and now, Moreno has denied pulling the trigger that killed Aquino. "I didn't see Galman shoot Aquino. He came from behind me. I just heard the bang and then I saw Sargent de Guzman shoot Galman."

Life after incarceration

Moreno spent 26 years in prison before he walked free. In 2009, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commuted his sentence for good conduct.

Yet today, Moreno wants the government to reopen the case, if only to uncover the mastermind and clear his name.

He said it would also vindicate the other men convicted alongside him. Of the 16 convicted, seven are now dead.

The Public Attorney's Office (PAO), which represented the soldiers and policemen in the Aquino-Galman trial, said a case in the Sandiganbayan could still resume if one of the accused, Captain Felipe Valerio, emerges. Valerio is widely believed to have fled to the United States to escape trial. He was the head of the squadron that was tasked to provide close-in security to Aquino at the airport. Now 69 years old, he was last spotted in Texas and California, said PAO chief Persida Acosta.

"Criminals become brazen because so many crimes remain unsolved. If we want to deter criminality we should never give up on our quest for truth and justice," she said.

Acosta had asked the Supreme Court to reopen the case in 2006 based on the findings of an "independent forensic team" from the University of the Philippines and the testimony of SPO4 Ruben Cantimbuhan, the driver of the Special Weapons and Tactics van who claimed he saw Galman shoot Aquino.

The Supreme Court denied the petition.

Marcos's critic, Aquinos' friend

Marcos's critic, former Sen. Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel, Jr. also said the case should be reopened.

"If only for the sake of history and to assuage our people that nobody is above the law in this country, it is important to identify the masterminds behind the killing of Ninoy," said Pimentel, a friend of the slain senator.

'Speak now or forever hold your peace'

He said a number of personalities who may have crucial information should speak up now before their time on earth runs out.

"Imelda (Marcos) would surely have something to say on this issue. I suggest she comes clean so that the people will have a different view of her even if she passes on to the world beyond," he said.

Marcos, the incumbent Representative of Ilocos Norte, was then the First Lady.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos also dared her to speak up about the assassination in 2017. "The former First Lady must be the one to speak for the family now because she knows more than any of the children....what happened in August 1983. Really, what happened? It was not [Rolando] Galman," Ramos told news website Rappler.

People in power

Ramos was the chief of the Philippine Constabulary and the Integrated National Police during the Marcos administration, and concurrent vice chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

While Ramos was being "edged out" of the Marcos regime during that time, Pimentel said he was convinced Ramos obtained vital information about the assassination that he must now share with the public "as a matter of conscience and duty" and "before he passes on to the next world."

Pimentel said former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, then the Defense Minister, and businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco would likely also have information to share. Enrile was influential at the time and Cojuangco was very close to Marcos.

"We are not saying they were involved with the assassination but sharing information with the people would be a good thing," he said.

Marcos, Ramos, Enrile and Cojuangco have declined ABS-CBN News' request to issue a statement.

In the meantime, prospects remain bleak that the remaining questions about Aquino's murder will ever be answered.

But Moreno is trying to get on with his life, and Galman's family hopes to leave behind one of the darkest chapters in Philippine history.