Chiong murder case
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The Chiong murder case (''People of the Philippines v. Francisco Juan Larrañaga et al.'') was a trial regarding an incident on July 16, 1997, in
Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
, the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, in which sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong were kidnapped, raped, and murdered. Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga (b. 1977), a man of
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and
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citizenship was, along with six others, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death by
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
on February 3, 2004. Larrañaga was later commuted to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
, following the abolition of
capital punishment in the Philippines Capital punishment in the Philippines ( fil, Parusang Kamatayan sa Pilipinas) specifically, the death penalty, as a form of state-sponsored repression, was introduced and widely practiced by the Spanish government in the Philippines. A substantia ...
in June 2006, and was transferred to Spain to serve out his sentence in October 2009. The Chiong sisters remain missing to this day.


Trial


Prosecution

According to the prosecutors, at 10:00 p.m. on July 16, 1997, Larrañaga and six other defendants kidnapped the Chiong sisters near a mall on the island of Cebu in the Philippines, raped them, and then threw one of the sisters into a ravine. This was later disputed because there was no formal identification of the body, and it was later determined that it was not the body of one of the sisters. The other sister was never found. The testimony of a co-defendant, Davidson Valiente Rusia, was central to the prosecutors' case against Larrañaga. Rusia testified in exchange for blanket immunity. Despite the fact that Rusia's direct testimony lasted days, the trial court only allowed Larrañaga's counsel to cross-examine him for half an hour. During that half-hour, Larrañaga's attorney established that Rusia lied to both the prosecution and the court about his prior convictions. Rusia claimed he had never been convicted of a crime, but he had a history of burglary and forgery; when confronted with this evidence, Rusia fainted. Davidson Rusia is a convicted felon who was a gang member and was sentenced to prison twice in the
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for other crimes. Rusia claimed that he was with Larrañaga in Ayala Center, Cebú early in the evening of July 16, the evening Larrañaga says that he was at R&R Restaurant in
Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
with his friends. Rusia was unknown to Larrañaga and only appeared as a "state witness" 10 months after the event.


Defense

Forty five witnesses, including Larrañaga's teachers and classmates at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) in Quezon City, testified under oath that he was in Quezon City, when the crime is said to have taken place in
Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...
. However, the trial court considered these testimonies irrelevant, rejecting these as coming from "friends of the accused," and they were not admitted. During his trial in the Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 7, defense lawyers sought to present evidence of his whereabouts on the evening of the crime—that Larrañaga, at that time 19 years old, was at a party at the R&R Restaurant along Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City, and stayed there until early morning the following day. After the party, the logbook of the security guard at Larrañaga's condominium indicates that Larrañaga returned to his Quezon City condominium at 2:45 a.m. Rowena Bautista, an instructor, and chef at the culinary center said Larrañaga was in school from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and saw him again at about 6:30 p.m on July 16. The school's registrar, Caroline Calleja, said she proctored a two-hour exam where Larrañaga was present from 1:30 p.m. Larrañaga attended his second round of midterm exams on July 17 commencing at 8 a.m. Only then did Larrañaga leave for Cebu in the late afternoon of July 17, 1997. Airline and airport personnel also came to court with their flight records, indicating that Larrañaga did not take any flight on July 16, 1997, nor was he on board any chartered aircraft that landed in or departed from Cebu during the relevant dates, except the 5 p.m.
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flight on July 17, 1997, from Manila to Cebu. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the accused without reasonable doubt.


Verdict

The seven co-defendants were convicted of murder and sentenced to death by
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
on February 3, 2004. Larrañaga's counsels Felicitas Aquino Arroyo and Sandra Marie Olaso Coronel urged the high court to admit the ''
amicus curiae An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
'' from the Basque Bar Council (BBC), Barcelona Bar Associations (BBA) and Bar Association of Madrid. The three organizations expressed their interests in the case of Larrañaga since he was a " Spanish citizen with origins in the Basque Country, and therefore a member of the
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." The BBA mentioned that the execution of a Spanish citizen would be in breach of the violation of the principle of
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in
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, noting that if a
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is found guilty in Spain, no Spanish court would have imposed the death penalty, nor would have allowed him extradited to any country imposing capital punishment. Former Ambassador Sedfrey Ordóñez claims he is the victim of a mistrial. Fair Trials International (FTI), an NGO working on behalf of those who face a miscarriage of justice in a country other than their own, entered an ''amicus'' brief which was submitted to the
Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on Ju ...
by the European Commission's Manila delegate. The ''amicus'' argued that under both international and Philippine law, Larrañaga had been the subject of an unfair trial and had never been given the opportunity to show his innocence. FTI has since represented Larrañaga before the
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, appealing against injustice in the Philippines. Sarah de Mas, spokesperson for FTI who brought the case to the attention of the
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and successive presidencies of the European Union, stated that Larrañaga had served a lengthy sentence for a crime he could not have committed.


Aftermath

Years after the verdict, questions still linger, and there is dissatisfaction with the outcome of events on both sides.Editorial cartoon from the ''Sun.Star''
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Abolition of the death penalty

On June 24, 2006, capital punishment was abolished in the Philippines.


Transfer of Larrañaga to Spain

On December 3, 2007, Spanish Foreign Minister
Miguel Ángel Moratinos Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé (born 8 June 1951) is a Spanish diplomat and politician, a member of the Socialist Workers' Party and was a member of Congress from 2004 to 2011, where he represented Córdoba. Since 7 January 2019 he is the UN ...
stated that Spain will be "happy" if Larrañaga spends his life sentence in a jail "here" as the Treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons comes into force: "We don't know when this will happen. We have no time period. We feel happy that Mr. Larrañaga can come back with this treaty." The treaty, which will allow convicted persons of either country to return to his home country and spend his sentence there, was ratified by the Philippines—17 affirmative and two abstentions—on November 26. The Philippines has signed similar treaties with
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,
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,
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, and
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. Larrañaga is the son of Spanish pelotari Manuel Larrañaga and Filipino Margarita González, and, through his mother, is a member of the influential Osmeña clan of Cebu.
Philippine Senator The Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives as ...
Miriam Defensor-Santiago Miriam Palma Defensor-Santiago (''née'' Defensor; June 15, 1945 – September 29, 2016) was a Filipino scholar, academic, lawyer, judge, author, and stateswoman who served in all three branches of the Philippine government: judicial, executiv ...
said that, "Larrañaga's case could be covered by the treaty only if the Supreme Court issued a final ruling on his conviction, which remained on appeal before the high tribunal". In September 2009, the
Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
approved Larrañaga's transfer to a Spanish prison. Thelma Chiong, the mother of the victims, expressed shock over the decision, saying that, despite Larrañaga's
Spanish citizenship Spanish nationality law refers to all the laws of Spain concerning nationality. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and los ...
, "If you committed a crime in the Philippines, you are jailed in the Philippines," despite the fact that this would constitute a breach of the treaty and thus of
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. Chief
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Legal Counsel
Raúl González Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
himself expressed concern that the Philippines might be branded a
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if it did not comply with the provisions of the treaty. Larrañaga, escorted by two Spanish
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
agents, left for Spain on October 6, 2009. His good behavior at the
New Bilibid Prison The New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila is the main insular prison designed to house the prison population of the Philippines. It is maintained by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) under the Department of Justice. As of Octob ...
was taken into consideration, and he will serve the rest of his sentence at the Madrid Central Penitentiary at
Soto del Real Soto del Real, whose former name was ''Chozas de la Sierra'', is a town and municipality in the northern area of the autonomous Community of Madrid which had 8,294 inhabitants in 2009. 43 kilometers away from Madrid, the capital city, it is loca ...
. According to Philippine Justice Secretary
Agnes Devanadera Agnes Vicenta Salayo Torres-Devanadera (born April 5, 1950), also known as Agnes VST Devanadera, is a Filipina lawyer and politician who served as the chairperson of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) from 2017 to 2022. During the Arroyo a ...
, Philippine law will continue to be observed for the remainder of Larrañaga's prison term. Dionisio Chiong, the father of the victims, said in Cebuano, "I'm tired. The family is tired of this case. We fought to get a conviction but the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
clearly wanted to bring him to Spain. We can't beat the government." He also expressed resentment that he and his wife only learned about Larrañaga's departure through the media. Less than a week after Larrañaga's transfer, two Filipinos incarcerated in the Philippines stated their wish to also serve the rest of their sentences in Spain under the provisions of the treaty. A supporter of Larrañaga has also sought a reinvestigation of the murder case in order to clear the six other convicts. Thelma Chiong expressed the possibility of her and her husband, Dionisio, visiting Larrañaga in Spain. Larrañaga, born in 1977, will be 61 when he is released.


The release of Aznar, Balansag, Caño and Anthony Uy

On August 30, 2019, Senator
Panfilo Lacson Panfilo "Ping" Morena Lacson Sr. (; born June 1, 1948) is a Filipino former politician and police general who served as a Senate of the Philippines, Senator for three terms: from 2001 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2022. He was the Chief of the Phil ...
stated that some of the convicts of the 1997 murder of the Chiong sisters are now out of prison. Faeldon has confirmed the release of Josman Aznar, Ariel Balansag, Alberto Caño and James Anthony Uy, the four persons who were convicted for the 1997 murder of the Chiong sisters. On September 4, President Rodrigo Duterte has fired Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon after the latter approved the release of three convicts in the murder case. On September 5, Chiong sisters' parents has called Duterte to return the three convicts back to prison. Eventually, the Chiong sisters' parents thanked to the President when the news of Duterte announcing that surrender of the released convicts for good conduct. The parents are also called for the investigation of Faeldon for his actions, in which Faeldon would be fired from his post by President Duterte. On September 6, Ariel Balansag and Alberto Caño, the two of the three convicts of the Chiong sisters rape-slay case, who were released by virtue of the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance Law, has been surrendered to the authorities. On September 18, James Anthony Uy and Josman Aznar, the last two of the four convicts of the said case, has finally surrendered to the authorities.


Popular culture

Film adaptations *The incident was featured in an episode of the 1998 TV crime-drama series ''
Calvento Files ''Calvento Files'' is a Philippine crime and investigative documentary drama series which aired on ABS-CBN from December 1, 1995, to October 2, 1998. It was hosted by broadcast journalist Tony Calvento and was replaced by ''Katapat: Mayor Fred ...
'' hosted by
Tony Calvento Antonio Alberto Calvento (February 1, 1954 – October 9, 2017) was a prominent Filipino broadcast journalist and columnist. He was the host of ''Calvento Files'', a crime and investigative documentary show which aired on ABS-CBN (together with ...
on
ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...
. It starred
Niño Muhlach Niño Muhlach (born Angelo José Rocha Muhlach, October 27, 1971) is a Filipino actor. He is the father of Filipino child actor Alonzo Muhlach. Early life Niño was born to Alexander Muhlach and Rebecca Rocha, he has five siblings. A nephew ...
as Paco Larrañaga,
Jennifer Sevilla Jennifer Sevilla-Go (born May 14, 1974) is a Filipino actress in movies and television shows. She was a former member of '' That's Entertainment''. Personal life Jeniffer Sevilla was born on May 14, 1974 in Quezon City. She is only child. She st ...
as Jacqueline Chiong,
Gina Alajar Regina Liguid Alatiit (born June 28, 1959), professionally known as Gina Alajar (), is a FAMAS and Gaward Urian Award winning Filipino film and television actress and television director. Career Since appearing as a child actress in the earl ...
as Thelma Chiong, and Ruben Austria as Dionisio Chiong. *''Animal (Butakal: Sugapa sa Laman)'', a 2004 film directed by Toto Natividad loosely based on the Chiong Sisters case. *''Give Up Tomorrow'', a 2011 documentary by Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco that tells the story from Larrañaga’s perspective. *'' Jacqueline Comes Home (The Chiong Story)'', a 2018
biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
directed by Ysabelle Peach Caparas, starring
Meg Imperial Meg is a feminine given name, often a short form of Megatron, Megan, Megumi (Japanese), etc. It may refer to: People *Meg (singer), a Japanese singer *Meg Cabot (born 1967), American author of romantic and paranormal fiction *Meg Burton Cahill ( ...
and
Donnalyn Bartolome Donnalyn Bartolome(born July 9, 1994) is a Filipino internet personality An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or d ...
as the Chiong Sisters.


Timeline of the murder case

* Night of July 16–17, 1997 – Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga and six others kidnapped sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong outside a mall in
Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
. Larrañaga, Josman Aznar, and James Anthony Uy took turns raping the sisters. Marijoy's body was found 2 days later, while Jacqueline's body was never found, according to the testimonies of suspect-turned-state witness Davidson Valiente Rusia. * May 5, 1999 – Larrañaga and six others were convicted of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with homicide and rape. * February 3, 2004 – The Supreme Court has imposed the death penalty on all suspects except Uy, who was a minor when the crime was committed. * July 2005 – The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions. * June 24, 2006 – President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...
signed Republic Act No. 9346, abolishing the use of
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. * December 3, 2007 – Spanish Foreign Minister
Miguel Ángel Moratinos Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé (born 8 June 1951) is a Spanish diplomat and politician, a member of the Socialist Workers' Party and was a member of Congress from 2004 to 2011, where he represented Córdoba. Since 7 January 2019 he is the UN ...
convinced the Philippine government to allow Larrañaga, a Spanish citizen, to serve his sentence in Spain under a bilateral treaty signed in November that year. * October 6, 2009 – Larrañaga is allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence at the Madrid Central Penitentiary at
Soto del Real Soto del Real, whose former name was ''Chozas de la Sierra'', is a town and municipality in the northern area of the autonomous Community of Madrid which had 8,294 inhabitants in 2009. 43 kilometers away from Madrid, the capital city, it is loca ...
. * June 25, 2019 – The
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decided to void certain portions of RA No. 10592, which grants additional good conduct time allowance to inmates, thereby making its application retroactive instead of prospective. * September 2, 2019 – Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon confirmed the release of Aznar, Balansag, Caño, and Uy, the four persons convicted for the 1997 murder of the Chiong Sisters. * September 4, 2019 – President
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...
fired Faeldon for approving the release of the four convicts. * September 6, 2019 – Balansag and Caño, who were released by virtue of the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance Law, surrendered to the authorities. * September 18, 2019 – Uy and Aznar also surrendered to the authorities.


References

{{reflist, 2 1990s missing person cases 1997 murders in the Philippines 2004 in case law 2004 in the Philippines Death penalty case law Female murder victims History of Cebu City Kidnappings in the Philippines Missing person cases in the Philippines Murder convictions without a body Murder in the Philippines Rape in the Philippines Sisters Trials in the Philippines