Imprisonment and appeals The four men were sent to
Muntinlupa National Penitentiary during the appeals process. While in prison, they met American Protestant missionary Olga Robertson, who resided outside the prison complex and devoted most of her time to
prison ministry. Robertson visited the three condemned and asked they memorize
Bible verse
John 14:6. Three months later, she visited the men again to discover they were no longer interested in spiritual things. Determined to save their souls, she returned the day before their scheduled execution: Aquino quickly recited
John 14:6 while José was faint with grief and fear. On December 28, 1970, Rogelio Cañal died from a
drug overdose, two years before the executions. In a
per curiam judgment in G.R. No. L-28232 on February 6, 1971, the
Supreme Court modified the RTC
decision, to declare the following: On the day of their execution, the condemned ate a breakfast of
fried chicken with bread and coffee, then had their heads shaved at 10:00 a.m. Their
last meal was a lunch of rice,
kare-kare,
chicken tinola,
lobster,
crispy pata,
lechon, fried
lapu-lapu, and
ice cream. The condemned were said to have been weeping uncontrollably during a radio interview. Early in the afternoon, Robertson brought in other inmates, who sang hymns of praise to encourage the three condemned. Nine doctors attended to the condemned before they entered the execution chamber. She later claimed that the three men went from the
electric chair into the arms of their Saviour, with Aquino triumphantly saying, "Lord Jesus, I give you my life and no one can take it from me." At their execution, the horde of reporters was divided into three groups to witness each execution. Jaime José was the first to enter the
death chamber. As he was strapped to the chair, he entered a state of
shock after being
sedated. He spent his last moments weeping as his face was covered with a leather mask, his bare feet resting on a wet block of
quarrystone. Among the witnesses was his father, José, who had promised his son that he would be present in his final moments. His mother, Dolores, was at
Malacañang Palace for a private
audience with the President to beg for a last-minute
pardon, which Marcos declined because of widespread public anger over the incident. José was executed when three prison guards activated switches to the electric chair, of which only one was live. After the initial shock, when the prison doctor found him still alive, it was debated whether he should be taken back to his cell since he survived the first shock. He was given another application of current and was pronounced dead at 3:20 p.m. Basílio Pineda, the second to be executed, was forcibly dragged to the death chamber and was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. The final convict to be executed, Edgardo Aquino, was the only condemned who appeared to show remorse for the crime. A
prison chaplain, the head of the prison guards, and a doctor heard his
last words as a final admonition: "Avoid bad companions and obey your parents." He was pronounced dead at 4:10 p.m. The three men’s bodies were taken to the Bilibid Hospital morgue for final identification and claimed the next day by relatives. José had his casket closed for the entire duration of his
wake until his burial. == Aftermath and legacy ==