[5] Instead, he attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1981 on a scholarship, where he earned a Masters in Public Administration.

[6][5] In 1984, Javier ran for a seat in the Regular Batasang Pambansa to represent Antique's lone district, but lost.

Arturo Pacificador, a member of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) party, was his competition who was known to have a lot of powerful people who supported him.

In the province of Antique, ballots of those who voted in the towns of Caluya, Cabate, Tibiao, Barbaza, Laua-an, and San Remigio were not placed in the boxes.

Being a critic of the Marcos administration, he campaigned for his opponent Corazon Aquino and her running mate Salvador Laurel in the 1986 snap elections.

At 10:00 in the morning of February 11, 1986, three or four masked gunmen riding in a Nissan Patrol jeep went to the New Capitol building in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique.

[5] While Javier was talking to friends on the steps in front of the capitol building, the masked gunmen opened fire.

[5] Time described the scene:[12]Evelio Javier, director of Corazon Aquino's campaign in the remote province of Antique, was sitting on the lawn in front of the capital building, taking a break from a debate over contested votes in his region, when a white vehicle pulled into the driveway.

[5] The News Today at the 20th anniversary reported, "As the prostrated corpse of Javier lied on the damp cement of the comfort room, another gunman, hankering for a kill, unmasked himself and made a shrill outcry - 'Can you recognize me?

Pacificador has operated like a warlord in Antique, wielding political patronage with his connections in the ruling party and the power he has amassed under Marcos....

[citation needed] A ledger from Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos obtained by the Los Angeles Times showed that Javier's political opponent, Arturo Pacificador, received ₱1 million from the Marcoses 5 days after his killing.

By October 1986, the accusation consisted of 19 people; two noteworthy ones were Javier's rival Pacificador, and Avelino Javellana, his lawyer.

[15] In May 1989, Javellana was arrested, but on his pleas of health and safety was not held in Antique jail, but to be followed by two police escorts to Iloilo Mission Hospital.

"[14] Further showing the presiding judge was biased towards the accused was that despite allowing Nagales to be discharged he was not used as witness to two other defendants and their cases were dismissed.

[14] The trials were suspended in 1989 when the presiding judge was accused of partiality and the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order.

Despite his detainment, Pacificador ran for governor of Antique in the 1995 election, but he lost by a wide margin to Exequiel Javier.

[20] The assassination of Javier fueled the People Power Revolution that happened weeks later on February 22, 1986, which ousted Ferdinand Marcos and made Corazon Aquino the President of the Philippines.

In 1992, Javier was one of the first individuals to be honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, a monument dedicated to those who opposed the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.