I almost bought the hype that "The Chiong sisters are alive!" However, the pieces of evidence are moot as two private citizens' lives have been disrespected. The rumors started in 2005 but I only knew them decades later (read here). I was compelled to do some research because the claim is practically too good to be true or too horrible to be true. I heard the claim and decided to do a common-sense analysis. It's time to use further common-sense analysis. I already wrote a related post where I raise its questionability.
I find this as problematic as Atty. Harvey Keh's Anonymous source. I laughed when the late Atty. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who died after the elections, scathed Keh's "evidence". The feisty senator reminds me of my former high school teacher, who always demanded evidence. To put into application of MDS's scathing sermon (and honestly, the scene reminds me of when my teacher scolded me severely for my misbehavior), here are some practical insights:
- I could be wrong, but the fact that Enrique never mentioned the name of this first cousin of the Chiong mother already makes it questionable. Just where are the other people who could at least verify the claim?!
- Was this matter even presented in court? The film Give Up Tomorrow didn't even bother to add it because of its questionable claim. The fact that Enrique never mentioned the cause of death makes one wonder how this person even died.
- Did Enrique consider the fact that this deceased person may have been playing with his emotions?
- Another thing is that this first cousin of the Chiong mother may have received a phone call from an anonymous "tipster". This makes the secondhand information even harder to verify.
Now, for the angle of the "anonymous tipster", if that person ever exists, these are some things that came into my mind recently, after using Gemini App:
- This anonymous tipster was making a prank call from Canada, and lied to the first cousin of the Chiong mother, who possibly died out of shock.
- Another possibility is that the anonymous tipster may be part of a bigger network that may be involved in the disappearance of the Chiong Sisters.
From another angle, Enrique may have been the victim of two prank calls that went this way:
- Enrique received a phone call from a woman claiming to be the first cousin of the Chiong mother. The phone call would say that the Chiong Sisters were taken to Danao, not Carcar. Then the woman claiming to be the Chiong Mother's first cousin gave him several pieces of "information", giving him hope that his children can get out of jail. This "first cousin of Mrs. Chiong" offers to sign an affidavit, and gives him the phone number to call her back
- Enrique prepared an affidavit, which was made by his lawyer. Enrique calls back but receives "sad news". A male voice takes over and says that the "first cousin of the Chiong mother" has passed away.
The scenario makes me think that it could be two different people or one singular person. A man could've used whatever technology was available to impersonate a woman, pretend to be a "first cousin of Mrs. Chiong" and give him a call saying that the Chiong sisters were taken to Danao, and that the Chiong mother was able to talk to her daughter on a long-distance telephone from Vancouver, Canada, down to Talisay City. However, here are facts that we need to look into:
- The name of the "first cousin of the Chiong mother" wasn't mentioned. Who was she anyway? The anonymous call could've said, "I couldn't tell them my name, the Chiongs will murder me if I let you know their daughters are alive. I can't disclose which daughter either. But you should know the Chiong mother was able to talk to them on a long distance telephone from Canada to Talisay."
- The name of the daughter who was talking to Mrs. Chiong in Talisay wasn't mentioned.
- The Chiong Sisters' direct family lives in Cebu City. I heard they live in Banilad, which makes the whole claim to the call even more questionable.
Why do I think real suspects may be involved? In the Give Up Tomorrow documentary, the following information was revealed:
- The late Dionisio Chiong was supposed to testify against a certain someone not mentioned in the film, for some reason. Dionisio lost his job, and, how unusually convenient, his two older daughters went missing.
- Dionisio suddenly chose not to testify when his daughters went missing.
- As ABS-CBN reporter Leo Lastimoso said, why didn't the police look for the suspects from that angle?
Again, this creates no justice for either the Chiongs or the falsely accused. Thelma Jimenea-Chiong is still in the illusion that she's gotten justice. I don't blame her for believing the lies told to her. After all, a grieving person is easy to manipulate. Losing two daughters is really bad enough. Jacqueline Jimenea Chiong's body was never found. It's possible that Jacqueline's body was dumped somewhere to hide evidence. If the body at Carcar wasn't Marijoys, then it's already a terribly case unclosed, even more.