Col. Arturo Aruiza,
Marcos aide, dies at 56The security chief's 'duty and
By Tim Ryan
dedication to Marcos were incredible'
Star-BulletinCol. Arturo Aruiza, the aide-de-camp and confidant who dedicated himself to protecting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, died yesterday in a Las Vegas hospital.
Aruiza, who rose through the ranks of the Philippine army and was handpicked by Marcos to serve as personal security, had a yearlong bout with cancer. He was 56.
Aruiza was a newly graduated academy officer assigned to fighting communists in the south Philippines when in 1975 he was noticed by Marcos, who was visiting the San Miguel Brewery. Aruiza stepped forward to advise Marcos to not enter a room because it hadn't been cleared by the president's own security.
Marcos ordered an officer to have Aruiza join the presidential security force, a move for which Aruiza later said he owed Marcos "my life, my career."
Hawaii businessman and Big Island rancher Larry Mehau remembers Aruiza as "a true friend, consummate professional, a straight shooter." Mehau met Aruiza when the Marcoses arrived in Honolulu in February 1986. Eventually, Mehau's security company, Hawaii Protective Association, handled security duties for the Marcoses.
"I respected Art a lot," Mehau said. "His duty and dedication to President Marcos were incredible."
During his first meeting with President Marcos, Mehau remembered that every time he leaned toward Marcos "to hear better, I would see this little guy, Aruiza, making a move toward me."
"He looked like he was going to pounce on me even though I was a lot bigger. He was ready to defend his president, and I knew right then this was a great man."
Aruiza was never far from Marcos' side. In a famous photograph of Marcos standing on a Malacanang Palace balcony during his administration's overthrow, Aruiza is behind Marcos' right shoulder scanning the crowd for potential problems. When the Marcos entourage arrived in Honolulu in February 1986, a feeble and exhausted Ferdinand Marcos was led off the plane by Aruiza.
Aruiza made little effort to hide his annoyance at first lady Imelda Marcos, whom he believed was largely responsible for the Marcoses' downfall. He became a favorite of the news media in Hawaii, which learned that they could believe the news he announced.
Aruiza moved to the mainland in 1991, after Ferdinand Marcos died here. Plagued by immigration problems, tired of Hawaii and unwelcome in his homeland, Aruiza, his wife, Eleanor, and four children moved to Henderson, Nev., near Las Vegas.
He is survived by his wife; children Lynnie, 27, Anne, 36, J. Arturo, 21, and Vanessa, 15; mother, Juanita; three sisters; and three brothers.
Services will be held Sunday at the Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas from 4-8 p.m. Aruiza's ashes will be returned to the Philippines with daughters Anne and Vanessa and will be spread by his classmates in a Philippine countryside.
