“I HAVE long forgiven them (Chiong Seven), but they must suffer the consequence of their sins.”
So said Thelma Chiong as her family commemorated the 21st death anniversary of her daughters Marijoy and Jacqueline.
Thelma also wanted to quell rumors that Jacqueline is still alive.
“That’s actually the reason I am allowing the showing of this film (“Jacqueline Comes Home”). At first, I was mad, but I want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt,” Thelma told Sun.Star Cebu.
The Chiong family attended a mass in the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and visited the sisters’ columbary at the Alliance of Two Hearts in Barangay Banawa, Cebu City.
Thelma said she hopes the film will clear any doubts about the disappearance of Jacqueline.
“If she is still alive, the perpetrators would be afraid since she can pinpoint to them (as the ones who abducted and raped them),” said Thelma.
The Chiong family also attended the premiere showing of “Jacqueline Comes Home (The Chiong Story)” at SM Cebu City Cinema 1.
The story focuses on the ordeal of the Chiong family after the abduction, rape and murder of the sisters in 1997 in Cebu.
Actress Meg Imperial, who played the role of Jacqueline in the movie, and Filipino YouTube sensation Donnalyn Bartolome, who portrayed the character of Marijoy, also attended the premiere.
Also in attendance were Ysabelle Peach Caparas, who directed the film, and her father, veteran director Carlo J. Caparas, who co-directed.
Carlo wished to dedicate the film in memory of his late wife Donna Villa, who was known for producing real-life crime films, such as “The Vizconde Massacre (God Help Us),” “The Annabelle Huggins Story–Ruben Ablaza Tragedy (Mea Culpa),” and “The Cecilia Masagca Story: Antipolo Massacre (Jesus Save Us!).”
Jacqueline and Marijoy were 21 and 19, respectively, when they disappeared outside Ayala Center Cebu on July 16, 1997.
The incident resulted in the most-publicized criminal case in recent Cebu history.
Two days later, the body of a young woman was found at the bottom of a ravine in Carcar City. The Chiong family said that it was Marijoy.
On May 5, 1999, Cebu Regional Trial Court Judge Martin Ocampo convicted Juan Francisco “Paco” Larrañaga and his six co-accused of kidnapping and illegal detention. They were dubbed the “Chiong Seven.”
The six other convicts are Josman Aznar, Rowen Adlawan, van driver Alberto Caño, van conductor Ariel Balansag, and brothers James Andrew and James Anthony Uy.
David Rusia, a co-accused who turned state witness, testified that Aznar and Adlawan grabbed Jacqueline and Marijoy while the sisters were waiting for a ride home outside the mall.
Paco and the other accused allegedly dumped the bodies in the ravine in Carcar.
Judge Ocampo sentenced them to two life terms, instead of death.
The Supreme Court upheld Ocampo’s ruling, and imposed the death penalty on convicts Larrañaga, Aznar, Adlawan, Caño and Balansag on Feb. 3, 2004.
During his arrest, Larrañaga was 19 and studying culinary arts in Quezon City.
In 2009, the Department of Justice later allowed Larrañaga, now 41, to serve the remainder of his sentence in a Spanish jail as the latter is half-Spanish.
The transfer was in line with a Treaty of Sentenced Persons signed between the Philippines and Spain.