Trace of violence: The Chiong murder case

Episode on October 16, 2008 Thursday night after Saksi Up to now, the kidnap, rape and murder of the Chiong Sisters continue to baffle police investigators and forensic experts despite a guilty decision handed down by the Supreme Court in 2004. Kara David revisits the case this Thursday and seeks to answer the questions that hound Cebu’s “Trial of the Decade." On the eve of July 16, 1997, sisters Marijoy and Jacquiline Chiong were waiting for their ride home in Cebu’s Ayala Center when six men forcibly took them inside a vehicle and brought them to the nearby town of Guadalupe. Two days after, Marijoy’s body was found in a ravine in Carcar, Cebu. More than a decade after the incident, Jacquiline’s body is still missing. The hunt for the suspects led the police investigators to prominent families in Cebu. The accused includes Paco Osmena Larranaga, Josman Aznar, James Andrew and James Anthony Uy. Police investigators also took custody of Albert Balansag, Ariel Cano, Rowen Adlawan and David Rusia. Rusia was turned into a state witness after 10 months, and he admitted in court that they gang-raped and murdered the sisters. In 2004, the Supreme Court gave a guilty verdict and gave life imprisonment sentence to the accused suspects. However, questions still hound the case up to now. The defense says crucial evidences and expert testimonies were not admitted in court, that Paco Larranaga was purportedly in Manila when the crime happened, and forensic evidences were mishandled during the trial. Is there truth to these accusations? Under the direction of award-winning indie director Milo Tolentino, Kara David re-examines re-examine the case and tries to find the answers to longstanding questions in “Case Unclosed:The Chiong Murder Case", airing this Thursday after the late night newscast Saksi.

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Labing isang taon na ang nakararaan… pero ang bakas ng sinapit na karahasan ng magkapatid na Marijoy at Jacquiline Chiong… hindi pa rin nakakalimutan. Ngayong Huwebes sa Case Unclosed, muli nating balikan ang mga tanong ng nakaraan sa tinaguriang “Trial of the Century sa Cebu." Gabi ng July 16, 1997… pauwi sa Marijoy at Jacquiline Chiong nang sapilitan silang isinakay ng pitong kalalakihan at diumano’y ginahasa at pinaslang. Si Mariioy, inihulog sa bangin matapos ang krimen, habang si Jacquiline, hindi pa rin natatagpuan ang katawan hanggang ngayon. Galing sa mga prominenteng pamilya sa Cebu ang mga itinurong salarin: sina Paco Osmena Larranaga, Josman Aznar at ang magkapatid na James Andrew at James Anthony Uy. Kasama rin sina Rowen Adlawan, Alberto Cano at Ariel Balansag. Habang buhay na pagkakulong ang ipinataw ng korte sa pitong akusado noong taong 1999. Pero sa kabila ng desisyon, maraming tanong ang patuloy na umaalingawngaw hanggang ngayon. Ang mga akusado nga ba ang totoong salarin? Bakit maraming ebidensiya ang hindi binigyan pansin ng korte? May kakulangan nga ba sa paggamit ng forensic evidence para maisiwalat ang katotohanan? Ngayong Huwebes, sa direksyon ng award-winning indie filmmaker Milo Tolentino, muling babalikan ni Kara David ang kaso ng Chiong Sisters Murder sa Case Unclosed, pagkatapos ng Saksi.