A man named Jourdan Sebastian posted an appeal to the public on Saturday asking them to sign an online petition that aims to re-open the 1997 Chiong murder-rape case.
Sebastian introduced himself as a high school friend of Francisco Juan “Paco” Larrañaga, undeniably the case’s most high-profile convict. Sebastian wrote that while Larrañaga was “an extremely entitled asshole” in his teens, he is innocent of the crimes for which he has been convicted of.
The post has gone viral and has been shared more than 21,300 times. As of writing, the online petition addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte, has more than 108,800 signatures.
READ: Netizens call for ‘Jacqueline Comes Home’ boycott, say true crime film contains false info
Sebastian said that as a teenager, the Spanish-Filipino Larrañaga was involved in numerous brawls, along with another man convicted for the case, Josman Aznar. “Together I can vaguely remember around 3 scuffles that we were involved in while I was in Cebu. One was a football match and the two were over girls and beers,” he wrote.
However, he underscored that Larrañaga had nothing to do with the Chiong murders.
Sebastian added: “All that said, Paco did not rape or kill the Chiong sisters… according to what his accusers claim. Because our entire barkada [group of friends], composed of decent and very chill individuals would not lie for him if we knew he killed and raped those Chiong sisters. Why would we? Lying to set him free is tantamount to lying for a murderer and a rapist… ”
In 1997, sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong were raped and killed after they were abducted from Ayala Center, Cebu City. A body believed to be Marijoy’s was discovered in a ravine in neighboring Carcar. To this day, Jacqueline’s body hasn’t been found.
The documentary Give Up Tomorrow argues that Larrañaga is innocent of the crime. It resurfaced online after the recently released true crime film Jacqueline Comes Home faced an overwhelming backlash from netizens who believed that Larrañaga was a victim of a frame-up and a biased judicial system.
At present, Larrañaga, who was transferred to a prison in Spain in 2009, works part-time as a chef.
The feedback to Sebastian’s post has been generally positive.
Wrote Pisha Vitales: “Whatever happened, even if he’s the biggest bully in highschool (sic) and got into a lot of fights, he should be treated [un]justly just like the rest of us.”
Blake Cantos shared what he learned from watching Give Up Tomorrow.
But to Mitos Teves, it was “karma.”
READ: Actors, director, of ‘Jacqueline Comes Home’ react to social media backlash
Meanwhile, one of the stars of Jacqueline Comes Home has publicly asked the producer, which also manages her career, to protect her from the backlash.
In a Facebook post written in Filipino that was shared on Friday, Donnalyn Bartolome, who plays one of the Chiong sisters, told Viva Films to tell the public “the truth.”
Her post has been shared more than 5,600 times.
Addressing netizens, she said: “[T]he team led me to believe that there is a surprise ending that none of the actors know, so that the public would be curious to know what happened to Jacqueline.”
“Even if I’m not sure what it was, whether Jacqueline is dead or alive because Mrs. Chiong is your source (about what happened to Jacqueline) I trusted the team,” she said.
She added: “I thought Mrs. Chiong will say what really happened to Jacqueline. I [just] want to cry from anger.”
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