Give Up Tomorrow
(ChIong Sister Story)
According to the prosecutors, the Chiongs sitster was kidnapped by Larrañaga and the seven
defendant at 10:00 pm on July 16,1997 in Ayala Mall in Cebu, they rape and Marijoy body throw into
a ravine (there was no formal identification of the body of Marijoy). The body of Jacequiline was not
found. The prosecutors case against Larrañaga center of the testimony of a co-defendant, Davidson
Valiente Rusia. Rusia claimed that he was with Larrañaga in Ayala Center,Cebu early in the evening
of July 16, the evening Laranaga says that he was at R&R Restaurant in Quezon City with his friends.
Rusia ruled out everything he saw in rape and murder the two sister. Laranaga told Rusia that he lied
in court despite a murder case against Paco. They said that there are communication between
Larrañaga and Dionisio Chiong against to rape her daughters. Dionisio Chiong was the father of the
two sister. Dionisio Chiong was a “Drug Lord” in city of Cebu.
There are 42 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. 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. PAL flight on July 17, 1997 from
Manila to Cebu.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the accused without reasonable doubt.The
seven co-defendants were convicted of murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection on
February 3, 2004. Years after the verdict, questions still linger, and there is dissatisfaction with the
outcome of events on both sides. On June 24, 2006, capital punishment was abolished in the
Philippines.
On December 3, 2007 Larrañaga and their family was very happy because Paco was transfer in
Spain according to the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos despite of the citizenship of
Paco. In September 2009, the Department of Justice approved Larrañaga to transfer in Madrid,Spain.
Thelma Chiong, the mother of the victims, expressed shock over the decision, saying that, despite
Larrañaga’s Spanish citizenship. 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 six other convicts.
Made by:
Clint Xavier F.
Odango
