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Perspective Paper

GIVE UP TOMORROW: PERSPECTIVE PAPER

Maralit, NerieroseTapay

2018071251

December 01, 2018

Far Eastern University

Facilitator: Miren Morales, Ph.D.

BACKGROUND

“We can agree that keeping serious criminals in prison is an effective means of preserving
public safety, but we must also recognize that the axiom of 'putting people in jail and
throwing away the key' does not apply to all offenders universally and can actually be
counterproductive” -Ken Cuccinelli.

Those dedicated to the pardon of individuals convicted of crimes they did not commit. In
the film “Give Up Tomorrow”, it tell the story of Paco Larrañaga, a self-admitted juvenile
delinquent accused of raping and murdering two young women in the Philippine island of Cebu
in 1997. The only problem? Larrañaga was about 350 miles away from Cebu, in Manila, at the
time he was supposed to have carried out the murders, as attested to by some 35 peers and
instructors at the culinary institute where he studied at the time. Larrañaga found himself facing a
government conspiracy of mysterious origins, intent on not only imprisoning him for his accused
crimes, but on taking his life as well. He was also quickly convicted in the court of public
opinion thanks to sensationalist media coverage that focused less on doing any investigation, and
more on prurient details spoon fed to them by a compromised Philippine criminal justice system.

The convicted men were predictably seen as spoiled scions of the few members of the
wealthy elite. The most prominent accused, Francisco "Paco" Larrañaga, is at first glance, the
very personification of the country's social divide. With his fair skin, brown eyes, and foreign
features, he does not look like most Filipinos. His mother is a distant relative of a former
president. His father is a Spanish citizen. His gazes are intense, almost angry. He talks with a
cadence that is too assured and easily mistakable as indifference and arrogance. His eventual fall
from grace, starting from his celebrated arrest to that final conviction by the highest court of the
land, is therefore the logical happy ending to the escapist entertainment that the case has evolved
into. If we think beyond his case, we can actually conclude that he is just a victim.

A. Issue

“Give Up Tomorrow” chronicles the case of a young man wrongly convicted of rape and
murder, exposing a major miscarriage of justice (with Amnesty Intl., Fair Trials Intl. and the
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U.N. Human Rights Commission unanimously concurring). The Philippines-set picture depicts a
perfect storm of discrimination, fake news in social medias, public prejudice and corruption that
could have happened anywhere. There are many crimes that our country experienced and one of
it is the injustice. Like the farmers or poor, they have difficulties in terms of getting justice and
equality. They are mostly received punishment due to a lack of money and confident to defend
themselves.

B. Point of view

When I watched the documentary, Give Up Tomorrow, about the convicted Paco Larrañaga,
at first I was honestly bothered by the justice served to him and the rest of the suspects. Although
this documentary only focuses on Paco, and not so familiar with the other side of the story
(Chiong Family's side), however, the witnesses' (Paco's) statements were believable and Rusia's
side, as the star witness, was a bit lacking. If unfair justice was really served in this case, then it's
saddening, and I believe, even it has been finalized by the Supreme Court, the truth should be
heard by both parties. In my view, Paco's case was a mistrial from the beginning because the
evidences presented by the supposedly victims' families is weak from the beginning. And this
one is for Mrs. Chiong: How come she never bothered to ask Rusia, what happened to her other
daughter and where did this rape and murder happened. To just say in Cebu is not enough proof
because exact location is important to investigate and find evidence of the crime. They don't
even know who that body is or if the body was one of her daughters, which one was she. The
body according to them was too decomposed to be recognized and DNA was refused. As a
mother, I have to know for sure because it will give me hope that the other one might still be
alive that time. That is to say that there are many suspicious puzzles on the Chiong's part. And
after the seven suspects were sentenced, would you not continue to look for the other daughter?
It's as if she was not important anymore and it was more important to her that the accused were
in jail. Would you not ask these suspects to tell you where her other daughter was if she believed
they were the killers? I read the document from the trial that was also posted on Youtube because
I want to understand further this case. I found out that the suspects were charged and sentenced
for life in jail but they were also required to pay millions which is suspicious and questionable
because they were already sentenced for life. Why is there money involved? It seems to me that
this is the reason why they picked rich guys as their suspects. All the legitimate witnesses were
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not allowed to testify, the suspects didn't know the sisters, and the witness that they used and
who confessed to be one of the rapists, none of the suspects knew who he was so he was
obviously paid because they gave him pardon in spite of his so called confession that he was
among those who raped the sisters and then killed them afterwards. If he confessed to a murder,
shouldn't he be charged also except system usually gives lesser sentence for testifying, but not
completely free of the crime. Something has to happen to this case or Philippines will always be
considered corrupt and the justice system is only justice in name only. The Philippines has no
jury system, so Paco’s fate rested in the hands of the judge in the case, Martin Ocampo, who
made the defense team’s work difficult, even jailing them for protesting his decision to throw out
expert testimony questioning the identification of Marijoy Chiong’s body. When Paco’s fellow
students and instructors took the stand to verify his alibi, the judge cut short their testimony,
declaring that there were “too many” witnesses. Paco was never allowed to take the stand.

C. Criteria for Evaluation

Based on Christian paradigm, unveiling the truth about Social Justice calls for a paradigmatic
shift in the way most people think about justice. Having a right paradigm of fairness is crucial to
withstanding the type of deception that is rapidly penetrate our culture today. False Justice
equips you with the Christ focus and the biblical backing needed to form a right and godly
mindset regarding social justice. That’s why the sinner will be punishable. God knows the truth.
He is the judge of all kinds and He surely reveal the truth. The attitude of Paco that can be seen
in the documentary shows that he doesn’t lose his faith in God rather he became frightened and
hopeful.

D. Evidence

In “Give Up Tomorrow”, it states that more than 35 students, Paco's classmates and teachers
at the Center for Culinary Arts have confirmed that Larrañaga was in Quezon City on the day
that the crime occurred in Cebu. And here comes the story of the covert cover ups, the police
who hurry after the case immediately, the trial by publicity, the Judge who refuses to listen to the
accused's side, the very slow progress of the case, the magical death of the Judge and the
disappearance of other witnesses.
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According to the news in The Manila Times, there are just and honest judges, lawyers and
prosecutors but many more are corrupt bribe takers. A Judge in Olongapo City was suspended
recently for allegedly taking bribes and dismissing cases against child rapists. The Supreme
Court administrators have acted against many more corrupt judges. It was last April 5, Holy
Week, when Chastity Mirabilis, the 11 year-old street child and her friend, 11 year old (call her
Miriam) were kicked awake on the pavement where they were sleeping. They, the throw away
children of Cebu, were thrown in a police car and brought to the police station. There, allegedly
they suffered sexual abuse, torture and brutality to amuse and gratify the sexual urges of the
police at the Fuente police station. The next day Chastity and Miriam were thrown out of the
police station and soon after Chastity died from her wounds, the brutal beatings and the electric
shock given to her. Marian survived but is traumatized. But she was still able to give a graphic
testimony as to what had happened. It is a chilling tale of police corruption and barbarity. Is there
any justice for them?

D. Assertion Analysis

This shows the facts, opinion, preference and conventional.

“If you want to give up, this is normal. Give up tomorrow and when tomorrow comes, you
have tomorrow again and when tomorrow comes, think of giving up tomorrow again.” It is
a heart aching story of Paco.

To be honest, I was emotional while watching this video because aside from Pasco and
the rest of the guys who were arrested, I wonder how people have gone through the same
situation. I wonder how many innocent was killed or sent to jail for crimes they did not do.
Based on people’s beliefs and on their observations, Justice in the Philippine Justice System is
weak and corrupt and notoriously slow. Skilled lawyers and clients off of most charges by
bogging down the system with a flood of documents, motions and counter motions and then files
for dismissal because their client has been denied the right to a speedy trial. They believed that
for poor people, the justice system operates quite differently than it does for the wealthy and
elite. They are most often represented by overworked public defenders who advise their clients
to plead guilty to hasten the process and hopefully get off with a light sentence. In many places a
system of patronage exists in which justice is denied as having enough money to buy yourself
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out of fix. Though in this case, Paco is came from a rich family and his companion about this
issue but because of money, they are persecuted by law. For me, they’re are chasing for money.

In fact, in the Philippines, a few people, galvanized by the opportunity to do the right
thing, supported us with housing, resources, information and encouragement. Others held back,
believing that the system was beyond reform and the risk in going against police, presidents and
drug lords was too high. Paco, who soon will have spent half his life in prison, was reticent for
other reasons: When we discussed the case and prison, he became cold and somber. But when we
talked about his pre-trial life, he was full of warmth and enthusiasm. I came to understand that
we could prove Paco’s innocence over and over with the facts, but that would never be enough.
We needed not only to expose a deep and complex dynamic of corruption and injustice, but also
to reveal the part of the culture of the Philippines that is human, decent and suffering.

Actually, I preferred to be a person who has a good conscience and never commit crimes
as what Paco did. Unlike committing crimes and then escape for the accountability and
responsibility of the crime I commit. Paco shows braveness and he prefer to be good despite of
judgement to him. With all the evidence or lack of evidence thereof, we don't have to be a lawyer
to know that this trial was a fake because it is obvious. I suggest to send this case to every law
school all over the world and suggest that it be use as part of their learning process and use the
students to have their input to help the injustice done to be known by all the students who would
be lawyers someday and I'm sure the students themselves will help Paco Laranaga gain his
freedom and clear his name.

Giving perspective is very important in an issue. For me, there's a great value in
recognizing different perspectives in conversations because these enable us to hear and react to
things very differently. It can lead to true solutions instead of compromises. Perspective is the
way individuals see the world. It comes from their personal point of view and is shaped by life
experiences, values, their current state of mind, the assumptions they bring into a situation, and a
whole lot of other things. Sharing perspective is giving voice to the certain issue that will need to
resolve. It is neither right nor wrong.