Revisiting the Chiong rape slay case

BACK in July 2005, I was assigned by ABS-CBN Publishing's Metro magazine to do a story on Chiong sisters rape slay case in Cebu, because one of those convicted of the case is a scion of the late President Osmeña. To this day, it still is the most exhausting/exhaustive story I've ever worked on, primarily due to the number of people I interviewed, w/c included the respective mothers of Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong, and Paco Llarrañaga; their respective friends; a case investigator; and lawyers. Due to then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez' pussyfooting (aha! I'm finally able to use the word!), I was unable to interview Llarañaga himself, who is now back in the news because his transfer to a Spanish prison was recently approved by the Department of Justice.

I am publishing here the piece I did for Metro to give the public a glimpse into the complexities of the case, and cannot help but be moved again by the intense suffered by both families. As I was unable to interview Llarrañaga himself, I cannot ascertain whether he committed the crime, or not. Based on the legal documents and interviews I conducted with people connected to both families and to this case, however, and with the limited time available to me to put together that story back in 2005, I can only say that there seems to have been lapses in the investigation process itself, while the evidence presented by both prosecution and defense are riddled with loopholes.

Chiong/Larrañaga case (Metro) Aug. 2005

From the horse's ass himself

Gonzalez: 'I think Arroyo will run again'

MANILA - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will run again in May 2010 if efforts to change the form of government from presidential to parliamentary through a constituent assembly succeed, according to newly appointed Presidential Legal Counsel Raul Gonzalez.

In an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN News, the former justice secretary said he believes that Arroyo will run for a parliamentary seat in Pampanga so she could be elected as Prime Minister in 2010 in case the current efforts to change the charter through a Senate-less constituent assembly materialize.

"I will not be surprised if the President will run as Member of Parliament," Gonzalez said. (Click ABS-CBN News.)

IF this isn't the clearest statement yet about the Presidentita's intentions, I don't know what else there is to say. To those who still doubt the congressmen's motives about HR 1109/Con-Ass, that's your proof right there.

Thank you again presidentita!

DoJ chief: Claudio Teehankee free
Arroyo commutes Hultman killer’s sentence

By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net 10/06/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez confirmed Monday that convicted murderer Claudio Teehankee Jr. was released from prison last week after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commuted his sentence.

Teehankee, son of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee Sr. and brother of former Justice undersecretary Manuel Teehankee, was convicted in 1995 by the Supreme Court for the July 1991 murder of Swedish-Filipino youth Maureen Hultman and her friend, Roland John Chapman, and the wounding of a friend, Jussi Leino in Dasmariñas, Makati.

"Everything went by the rules here. His [Teehankee’s] records have been reviewed by the Board of Pardons and Parole before a recommendation was given to the President," Gonzalez said.

WTF?!?! Life is just cheap under this woman.

(Supreme Court ruling on Claudio Teehankee Jr. case: Click here. Case digest found here)