Fabian Ver

551
Fabian Ver bigraphy, stories - Filipino general

Fabian Ver : biography

January 20, 1920 – November 21, 1998

Fabian C. Ver (January 20, 1920 – November 21, 1998) was a General and Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos. It is suspected he was the mastermind of assassination of former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.

Crisis

Ver kept aging officers loyal to himself and also to Marcos on the armed forces, thus making young officers disgruntled. The Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) was formed by these young officers, led by then Colonel Gregorio Honasan as a result of this. The RAMboys, as they were known in the Philippines, played a key role in Marcos’ overthrow. As the Marcos regime grew unpopular during these years, Marcos would be in and out of office due to kidney ailments. Political mismanagement would ensue, culminating with the 1983 assassination of popular oppositionist Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. upon his return from exile in the United States. The Agrava Commission, an independent fact-finding body put up by Ferdinand Marcos found evidence to verify that the military and Ver were involved, but he was subsequently acquitted in 1985 by Marcos. After the tumultuous snap elections on February 7, Marcos announced that he was replacing Ver with Fidel Ramos due to his alleged ties with the Aquino assassination although he tacitly kept Ver in power.

Later life

After the tumultuous snap elections of 1986, the EDSA Revolution would come. Ver advised Marcos to give him orders to fire on the swelling number of protesters, but Marcos stubbornly refused to and dismissed him with a salute. This led to the end of the Marcos regime. Ver went into hiding afraid of his sins and foolishness, not exile, in the United States along with his children. At that time Ver’s mistress was banker Edna Camcam.

Ver would not be heard of for a while in spite of allegations against him by the government. In November 1998, it was revealed that he was terminally ill from emphysema and ailing in Bangkok. He died on November 21 and his remains were brought back to the Philippines. He was buried in his hometown of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte.

Military and political career

Ver was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte on 1920.

During World War II, he acted as a guerrilla intelligence officer and after the war, he went on in the military service. During then Senator Ferdinand Marcos’ term as Senate President in the early 1960’s, he was one of his military aides and as well as his driver. He was at that time serving in the Criminal Investigation Service of the Philippine Constabulary with the rank of captain.

The Philippine Constabulary was a that time, a major service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that deals with law enforcement and peace and order in the country. It is now at present, the Philippine National Police.

According to the autobiography book of now Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile entitled, "Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir", Ver was a man of Marcos through and through. He could not and would not say no to Marcos and would blindly carry out the wishes and orders of Marcos without question.

Thus, he became the most loyal underling to Marcos and upon the latter’s election as President of the Philippines on 1965, he became part of the latter’s inner circle. And, Ver worked his way up through the military ranks.

He was most trusted military officer of then President Ferdinand Marcos as Martial Law was declared on September 21, 1972. and he was also known as Marcos’ chief enforcer,and was the highest among the Rolex 12. He became further fiercely loyal to Marcos, and Marcos repaid his loyalty by appointing him as the head of the Presidential Security Group, then known as the Presidential Security Command. When he was due for retirement in 1976, Marcos extended his term indefinitely. He also headed the then National Intelligence and Security Authority (now, the National Intelligence and Coordinating Agency), the spy department of the Philippines, sending government agents to search for anti-Marcos critics. In effect, NISA acts as secret police force of the Marcos regime. Ver would be a feared figure during the martial law years, as he was known to take no prisoners and would resort to torture when needed. Martial law was lifted in 1981, and Ver was appointed as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines over a cousin, then Major-General Fidel Valdez Ramos, then the chief of the Philippine Constabulary. Thus, Ver became the most powerful officer in the military, as he headed now three institutions: the AFP, the PSC and NISA.