Most of you don’t know this but I had a brother who was only a year younger than me. Yup, you read that right, I said “had”. He died on June 5, 2000, just 6 days after he celebrated his 20th birthday. He died because he was murdered one night when he went out to go to Glorietta. I’ll keep the details of that horrible night private but what I wanted you to know is that we never found out who killed him because according to the police, there were no witnesses and no sufficient evidence that will lead to a perpetrator. That was 12 years ago.
My brother’s death was traumatizing to our entire family, to say the least. He was a pre-med student taking up Biology in UST. He would have been a doctor by now. We tried what we could to bring him justice but unfortunately there was only so much we could do. It’s just terrible how a lot of these crimes continue to happen these days. Sadly, the justice system in this country just isn’t efficient at all. A lot of criminals get away while on the other hand, innocent individuals are sometimes blamed and jailed for crimes they didn’t commit.
Recently, I was made aware of a documentary called Give Up Tomorrow by filmmakers Marty Syjuco and Michael Collins. It is about Cebu’s trial of the century, which took place fifteen years ago when sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong went missing and were later found to have been raped and murdered. It was a culinary arts student, Paco Larrañaga, who was accused of committing the crime despite having many witnesses and pieces of evidence that confirmed that he was in Manila, 300 miles away from Cebu, when the crime occurred. Apparently, since it was a very controversial case, there was pressure to give immediate justice, which led to Larrañaga and six others to be convicted to life imprisonment. This verdict was eventually raised to death penalty, apparently because of public and media attention.
The filmmakers of Give Up Tomorrow wanted to give Paco Larranaga a voice and a chance to prove his innocence. Their aim is to show people how the Philippine justice systems works and how it is affected by the complexities of Philippine politics and culture. It features interviews with forensic experts, political analysts, and major players in Paco’s case.
Initially, the filmmakers had difficulties finding venues to show the film locally. However, they were able to tour film festivals around the world and has received critical acclaim worldwide. It is because of that that Give Up Tomorrow is finally able to be released locally as well.
The film had its first local screening in Cebu on Sept. 26, 2012 at the Marcelo B. Fernan Press Center. In Metro Manila, it will be shown exclusively in the following cinemas:
- Robinsons Galleria and Robinsons Ermita from October 3 to 9,
- SM Manila, North Edsa, Megamall, Mall of Asia, Southmall, and SM Cebu from October 3 to 9.
- Ayala Trinoma, Greenbelt 3, and Alabang Town Center from October 5 to 7.
Although I’ve heard about the case and watched several features about it previously, I don’t know the victims or the accused personally. I don’t know what the truth is but I do believe that everybody has the right to be heard. While my family wanted justice for my brother’s death, we didn’t want to achieve it in a way that somebody innocent will have to suffer for something he didn’t do. We want to know the truth. We want the true criminal to be found. I believe that this film is worth watching if only to open our eyes to the reality of our country’s justice system. It’s about time we improve the system so that no person will be wrongly accused and all victims will be given justice.
