Archimedes Trajano

At the time of his activism, Trajano was a student at the Mapua Institute of Technology. During the First Quarter Storm and after the President's subsequent declaration of Martial Law in the country, violations of human rights were rampant, especially against student activists. Some of the relevant cases of human rights violations are "The Group of the 21" case, and "The Group of Three" case (The Piopongco case). These violations were made possible by the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus which legitimized the arrest and torture of people deemed enemies of the state. == Death ==

On Wednesday, August 31, 1977, Trajano attended the open forum held at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila where 21-year-old Imee Marcos, the eldest daughter of then-president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was the speaker. During the forum, Trajano, who was also 21 years old at the time, questioned the appointment of Imee as the National Chairman of the Kabataang Barangay (National Youth Council). He asked, "Must the Kabataang Barangay be headed by the president’s daughter? She would not have gotten the position if she weren't the daughter of the president," which allegedly irritated Imee Marcos. Trajano was forcibly thrown out of the open forum, and was subsequently blindfolded, and then beaten by her bodyguards. The forum was where he was last seen alive. On September 2, 1977, Trajano was found dead with signs of beating and apparent torture and his body and face severely mangled. His mother Agapita (née Francisco) Trajano recalls, "He was covered in a white sheet, lying on a table. And when I opened the sheet . . . I saw him black and blue". As almost all media outlets at the time were controlled by the government, 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.” == Trials and convictions ==

Award of damages against Imee Marcos in Hawaii Nine years after Trajano's death, and a month after Marcos was ousted from power and exiled, on March 20, 1986, Agapita Trajano was able to file a case against Imee Marcos and Fabian Ver (Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines) in Hawaii. Imee Marcos admitted in court knowledge of Trajano's fate but claimed it was "none of [her] business]". Marcos and Ver were charged with false imprisonment, kidnapping, wrongful death, and the deprivation of rights for 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. The case exposed the faults of the act of state doctrine, and paved ways for similar suits to be filed. Philippine court decisions 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. == See also ==