January 15, 2009 • 1:11 pm
Life is really not fair. Just had some news that a good friend of mine is suffering from the BIG C. He had it years ago and that was the reason why they amputated one of his legs but even after that he kept on living and kept on playing soccer, his favorite sport even with just 1 leg. He was a living example that even if you are somewhat crippled that you can still do so many things. He did not think that it was a hindrance. He made it not a hindrance but a challenge to overcome and overcome it he did. After many years, the C recurred and it has become a force to be reckoned with. Right now, he is at Stage 4 of the C. My sorrow is endless. My prayers go out to God for him and his family and for this trial that they are facing. He has 3 small kids with his lovely wife and this makes it all the more sadder. I was on the phone with him earlier. His enthusiasm is still there but I detect sad undertones. Life is really not fair. He who is such a contribution to this world. Why him? We would all think that but then again we do not know God’s reasons for things. Plans are already laid out for us by God and sometimes reasons for things escape us but later on we figure them out somehow. I pray for K, that he may have the strength to face all the trials that he is facing right now, I pray for his family, may they be strong during this ordeal and most of all I pray for a miracle…
At the end of the day, all we can do is just PRAY!
For all my blog visitors and readers, please help me pray for my friend K. Your prayers are very much appreciated.
Filed under: Health, My Friends , cebu news, friendships, Health, random musings, scared
October 17, 2008 • 4:52 pm
I waited for 12AM last night for the show to air. I was really looking forward to it and what I found out was very interesting. It gave me an insight into what happened in one of Cebu’s most controversial cases to ever happen in the 90’s. Below are some of the points that Kara David raised on the show.
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The UY brothers were not even friends of Larranaga.
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Paco Osmena Larranaga was alleged to not have been in Cebu during the killings. As per statements from the defense witness, he was in Manila about to take his exams. He has statements from a businessman and his sons who were friends of the Larranaga’s. The defense also presented Paco’s boarding pass as evidence.
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No rape kit was used on the victim, Marijoy Chiong’s body but the convicted were also accused of this. I mean, just for me I think that proper protocol should be followed in handling cases such as this and that there really should be no shadow of a doubt as to whether the victim was raped or not.
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The forensics team at that time used old methods to handle the evidence. Evidence was not even treated with delicacy.
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The case was won more on circumstantial evidence and with the testimony of the state witness, David Rusia who is a drug addict. As commented on by someone last night “drug addicts are liars”. Who is to say that Rusia was telling the truth.
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The owner of the boarding house were the sisters were purportedly raped told the investigators that the room where the alleged crime was said to have happened was a very small room and a rape couldn’t have gone unnoticed.
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A few months after the guilty conviction was given, Judge Ocampo took his own life.
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Paco Larranaga during the case repeatedly asked the judge that he be able to give a statement but it was not granted.
I’m sure there were a lot more but on the top of my head, that is what I came up with. While I do not condone this rape-murder crime, I would like to also see that those suspected be proven really guilty beyond reasonable doubt with the circumstantial evidence plus forensic evidence and so on. Conviction should not be based on simply statement of sworn witnesses. Now, the convicted felons are in jail and it’s been 11 years already. Will the other body still be found or has it rotted away and gone back to the dust of the Earth? Was the conviction really a rightful one for all of the accused or was there some of them who were wrongly convicted of the crime?
We can only have so many questions and too few answers…
Filed under: News , cebu news
October 16, 2008 • 7:14 pm
GMA 7 launched this new late night TV show titled “Case Unclosed”. What it mainly does is tackle cases that have happened a long time ago but without a clear resolution and tonight’s topic is one of those cases. The show would detail the circumstances in the disappearance of the Chiong sisters: Jacquiline and Marijoy Chiong and perhaps one of the most controversial cases in the Cebu Capitol. I am personally quite familiar with this case because the rape and murder happened in Cebu and I lived there for quite a while which led me to have friends who were somewhat “knowledgeable” on what really happened. One of the accused was an AZNAR. The Aznar’s are a powerful clan in Cebu since they are what you would call “old rich” people. They own one of the big schools in Cebu and up until now they are still very prosperous. I happen to come across one of the Aznars as an acquaintance through a good friend of mine. His brother was one of the accused and as he told us, still in Bilibid Prison. Other convicted felons who were deemed as including in the brutal killing of 2 sisters are also from rich families in Cebu and they are still in prison too. The accused are Paco Osmena Larranaga (from the prominent Osmena clan), Josman Aznar, James Andrew Uy and James Anthony Uy. Tonight, I will be watching this particular episode and will write about what it was after. Hopefully, Kara David from GMA will be able to somehow give the viewers and myself an interesting insight into the case.
Filed under: News , cebu news, culture, Philippine News
