Philippines: Paco's Last Chance (Man on Death Row)
42 minutes, 2005
Ref: 455 - 30 Minuts, Televisio Catalunya

Philippines: Paco's Last Chance 42-mins Paco Larrañaga is on Death Row in the Philippines after being sentenced for the kidnap, rape and murder of two girls. The crime made headlines in the Philippines, and Paco and six other men were condemned to death in connection with the murders. The men have been on Death Row at Manila’s New Bilibid prison for the last eight years. A 30 Minuts team travelled to the Philippines to investigate the case, which was plagued by irregularities from the outset. Paco has always proclaimed his innocence and said that he was not on the island of Cebu when the murders took place. But witnesses who would have established his alibi were barred from giving evidence by the trial judge. Javier Viada is Paco’s lawyer and he strongly condemns the miscarriage of justice: “Paco was not allowed to testify. Paco’s defense witnesses were not allowed to testify. Paco could not question the witnesses for the prosecution. This is a flagrant violation of Philippine Law. There are no fewer than seven grounds for overturning the verdict and four violations of Paco’s basic rights.”

There is no evidence linking Paco to the crime apart from the testimony made by a drug addict named David Valiente Rusia, who is facing a host of charges. The addict bought immunity from prosecution by implicating Paco in the murders. The Head of the National Bureau of Investigations, Florencio Villarin, believed that the addict was lying to save his own skin: “I knew Rusia was lying. (…) My thirty years on the force have shown me that all drug addicts are inveterate liars. That is why I wanted to interrogate Rusia. But the Attorney General, the police and Mrs. Chiong stopped me from doing so.”

David Rusia was later released. His present whereabouts are unknown.

The 30 Minuts team interviews: Paco’s family and friends; the murder victims’ relatives; the Chiong family; witnesses who could have established Paco’s alibi (if only they had been allowed to appear); the former Attorney General, and the Philippines’ Minister of Justice, Raúl González. What emerges is at best a tale of judicial incompetence and at worst a conspiracy to obtain convictions at any price.

The report also looks at the murky role played by Mrs. Chiong, sister of Thelma Chiong who is the mother of one of the victims. Mrs. Chiong was Private Secretary to the President of the Philippines and wielded considerable political influence. The report looks at indications that she promised promotion for the State prosecutors in return for securing a guilty verdict.

Meanwhile, the outlook for Paco looks bleak. His family believes that an appeal lodged with the Philippines’ Supreme Court is doomed to failure and that the only hope seems to lie in an act of clemency by the country’s President and in building public and political pressure in Spain to get the Philippines to set aside a death sentence based on a travesty of justice.