I am Rhosell Dionne Botor and I will conclude that justice is an indefinite notion for

everything that we believe and fight for, especially if a certain act is not fair or rather not
justifiable by its need equity. The people and system of the Philippines are very transparent about
the crimes, crisis, and its chaos. Numbers of notorious crimes are profoundly known throughout
the country. One of which is the Chiong Sisters Murder Case; A hideous crime and mere
reflection of how the justice and prosecution in the Philippines works that continuously arouses
arguments and different perspective towards the conviction of Francisco Juan “Paco” Larrañaga
and other six suspects. The documentary video which is entitled as “Give up tomorrow” plays a
significant role to make the people understand specifically for those who have a piece of shallow
knowledge about the case. Moreover, it also serves as a beholder to how dirty and unethical the
whole process of Paco’s conviction is. The holistic resonance of this documentary is that Justice
is surely not for free because it is for sale for the rich people, and even so, for those who have
more power to whoever is the suspect of a crime.

Numerous adequate evidences for Paco and other convicted alleged criminals show that they are
, but, for the accusations of the Chiong family, neither of the different claims is considerable and
acceptable. The documentary became successful because it shows the experiences of Paco and
others on how they experienced inhumane treatments and the horrible justice system of our
country.

To be accused of something you did not do for which could affect your life in the most
complicated and hardest way is harder than accepting your death. On the other hand, to lose your
loved ones is also one of the hardest graves to accept, that is why seek and long to blame
someone and shout for justice even if it is unreasonable. These two possibilities of reality are
found in the case of the Chiong sisters and the conviction of Paco together with the six other
suspects. Paco is the primary suspect a.k.a as the mastermind of the hideous crime that shows
lack of pieces of evidence that he committed the crime and vivid shreds of evidence that he was
innocent and was not included; from which are disgustingly ignored by the legal offices that
integrates laws and justice because of the overwhelming pressure of the press (media) and the
eager narrow minded people who wants to convict an innocent man in order to claim falsehood
justice. As for the context in documentary, It was the fastest action of the Philippine National
Police about releasing a warrant of arrests without undergoing the process of finding enough
shreds of evidence, the unethical trespassing of police force in the school of Paco and others, the
way that the late judge Martin Ocampo behaves during the trial (sleeping, out of his mind, and
even committed suicide after the conviction) are some of the many embarrassing and
questionable approach towards this murder case. Also, the Chiong family has its puzzling illegal
background but the possibility of connecting the known drug-related activity of the family was
utterly ignored to become one of the main possible root causes of the murder crime. Counter
rebuttal to the allegations towards the Chiong family is that the enthusiasm of the Mother of
Chiong sisters is shown throughout the case up until now. However, the shown behavior of
Thelma Chiong (Mother of the victims) is also questionable because of the strong relationship of
Thelma Chiong and David Rusia who is allegedly part of exhibiting the crime that is very
suspicious knowing the fact that Thelma Chiong and her husband were very devastated and
angry. Even a blind man can never believe the special treatments such as giving cakes, ruling out
the conviction, and treating David as a son by the mother of the alleged victims who admitted
that he is one of the murderers who killed her daughters is very acceptable and unsuspicious. In
fact, it was stated that David Rusia was repeatedly tortured and physically harmed so he would
sign the papers that will show his entanglement to the Chiong Sisters and the suspects. In
addition, the credibility of the Rusia’s backgrounds and claims was consistently questioned by
the opened eye citizens because of the times he changed his story and its consistency.

This murder case also serves to become a key for survival and building names. It encompasses
not just the area of justice and laws but also the area of politics, poverty, media, and bandwagon
effects. Truthful to the fact that all people who helped for the conviction of the suspects were
promoted and quietly loving the cheer of the crowd opposing to the side of the suspects were
placed to a higher position after winning the case against Paco and the others. Some people also
say that the media, and the pressure of finding the suspects triggered the police officers to
implement immediate arrest and create a convincing story to make the people believe that they
got the right suspects to be portrayed as criminals, for which I do believe. The different media
outlets are also biased by only emphasizing the negative images of the suspects such as being
rich and actively involved random drinking parties.

There are a lot of loop wholes and assumptions more than credible and ethical evidence to
convict the suspects. However, these are disregarded because of the use of money, power, and
political advantages. To become aware is one of the social keys to unlock the injustices but if we
will not walk the talk there will be more of the same cases of what Paco and the other 6 suspects
suffered. We need to push changes and reformation about how and who controls the house of the
justice system in order to really implement effective change and progress not only for the
defendants but also for the victims. I will surely recommend and share the documentary film as a
credible source for it does not only focus on one side of the story rather It showcases the side of
Paco and the Chiong Family.

In conclusion, everyone can be a victim of the horrible justice system of our country, but not
everyone could be given the same attention to how we have given the case of Paco Larrañaga. I
am all aware that this is not the only case that reciprocated the unfair and bias ruling of laws,
however, it is an eye-opener that getting the justice we want is preparing for the battle of our life
which means it does not matter if you are fighting for the right, what matters is if you are more
powerful and influential to win. Hence, if there are still people who are blind, controlled,
unaware, and keeping the trust to the people who are afraid of change, there will always be
another Paco Larrañaga case and more documentaries about injustices to come. Furthermore, I
would like to amend that the prominent focus is only for Paco, we should also give those other
suspects’ fair attention in order to open the current administration and public’s eyes to re-open
the case.

REFERENCES:

https://therevellious.wordpress.com/tag/chiong-sisters/

https://sdgln.com/news/2012/10/02/give-up-tomorrow-documentary-pov-pbs-marty-syjuco