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Today in History: Revisiting the Late Martin Ocampo's Demise

 

An injustice for one is an injustice for the whole community. What people never thought that in their demand for blood--the wrong people were caught! It turns out that Francisco Juan "Paco" G. Larrañaga was in Quezon City when the Chiong sisters went missing (read here). On October 7, 1999, the trial judge who had doubts about the body found in the ravine was found dead in Waterfront, Lapu-Lapu. The incident happened while I was still in my second year of high school. There was not much access to the Internet back then nor was it viewed as a necessity, unlike today!

Back then, I felt Ocampo was murdered. There was allegedly some hair sample that was his--probably his mistress. However, forensics expert Dr. Raquel Fortun has concluded it was suicide. Dr. Fortun also showed up in the documentary Give Up Tomorrow which highlights two things--a crime that remains unsolved and how Paco was wrongfully arrested. Paco admitted on Dong Puno Live that he and Josman Aznar have a bad reputation. However, Paco was in Manila on July 16, 1997--that night when the Chiong Sisters went missing!

After an exhaustive and comprehensive re-autopsy on the body of Ocampo, Dr. Raquel del Rosario-Fortun said in her report that Ocampo took his own life inside Room 502 of the Waterfront Hotel in Mactan last Oct. 7.

"Based on available information regarding the circumstances surrounding (Ocampo's) death obtained from the investigation and the autopsy procedures, the injuries sustained are deemed to be self-inflicted and intentional, therefore the manner of death is classified as suicide," Fortun said in the report announced Friday by the Senate committee on justice and human rights.

Sen. Renato Cayetano, who chairs the committee, consequently ordered the Senate inquiry into Ocampo's death closed and terminated.

The Senate panel embarked on the re-autopsy to erase doubts that there was foul play in the death of Ocampo, who hogged the headlines last year for his verdict on the Chiong sisters' rape-slay case.

Cayetano, however, said the inquiry may be reopened if some physical evidence which would tend to disprove the findings of suicide is uncovered later.

The way Dr. Fortun said it in Give Up Tomorrow was this. Was Ocampo coerced to write the note? That's a good question to ask. Another thing Dr. Fortun mentioned was how Ocampo may have slashed himself at those parts, hoping he'd die and he tried something else. It seems Ocampo's guilty conscience had hit him hard. If Ocampo was indeed trying to end his life because of a guilty conscience--chances are he kept missing the vital parts. Eventually, when all else failed, a gun sufficed. So far, it seems nobody was in the room where Ocampo was later found dead.

Ocampo's conscience may have bothered him over these issues brought up in Give Up Tomorrow:

  1. Why did Ocampo choose to deem the identity of the body found in Tan-awan, Carcar, as irrelevant? The body's identity could've provided closure because if it was really one of the Chiong Sisters--it should at least provide closure for the victims' family. 
  2. Why did Ocampo not allow the Chiong 7 to testify? Why was he glued to Davidson Rusia, who by the way, was also not allowed to testify? Not to mention, Davidson had so many inconsistencies in his stories. Was it to get it over and done with.
  3. Why didn't Ocampo hear more of the defense before dismissing it? This includes dismissing pieces of evidence provided by Paco's friends that the lead suspect was indeed in Manila when the crime happened. Why did he just deem the photos manipulated without examining them?
  4. Ocampo was also caught sleeping during hearings. One must wonder did he really listen to all the details? 
  5. After the end of the trial, Ocampo later admitted that the body was doubtful. He also admitted that it wasn't "certain" that there was rape or murder, but he was "certain" that there was kidnapping and illegal detention. 
  6. Did Ocampo attempt to play Pontius Pilate with the crowd? The crowd was already convinced that Paco and his co-accused were the ones who did it. However, it seems that he knew deep within, there was something wrong. Did that nag on his conscience for months to come before he ended his life?
Everything that led to the trial was indeed a circus. As I watched Give Up Tomorrow--there were many missing angles. It's easy to dismiss it because the maker of the documentary was related to Paco by marriage. I read both the Supreme Court decision and the movie (read here). People came up with their conclusions. What might be ignored is that Thelma Jimenea-Chiong was a relative-by-marriage to then chief justice, Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. Davide's wife's is Virginia Jimenea Perez! Paco isn't legally related to producer Marty Syjuco. For clarification, Marty is the brother of Mimi Larrañaga-Syjuco's husband Miguel. Marty only met Paco during the wedding and didn't know Paco much either! 

Revisiting the incident, I wonder how would the brain-numbing movie Jacqueline Comes Home  (read review here) handle this scene? The movie didn't mention that the judge committed suicide. As I watched the movie--why wasn't Ocampo's suicide even included at all? The movie could've at least brought it up. The scene where students are debating whether or not the right people are caught (and Paco is simply called Sonny outright in the film) has two sides. Unfortunately, you've got law practitioners who may be oh too beholden to the Supreme Court of the Philippines and say, "The justice system should be trusted. It will never condemn an innocent person." Did they ever read the case of George Stinney--an African American teenager who was wrongfully executed? There are many around the world on death row who have done nothing to deserve the death penalty! 

Ocampo may be dead but there are still many truths needed. Who was the late Dionisio Chiong supposed to testify against before his daughters went missing? Why didn't the police look at the angle that Mr. Chiong's daughters went missing after he was called to testify? Why didn't the judge even bother the validity of the arrests or even the witness? The judge's motives would be hard to look into, especially since he's been too dead to do anything. However, this judge should be a lesson that something's wrong with the Philippine justice system!

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