Give Up Tomorrow: A Documentary Review

Hello, it's me again.

A recent case regarding the death of a flight attendant was the "talk of the town" in our country. It was all over the news and social media sites. But I'm not going to talk about that particular issue. As I was reading articles and other people's opinions about the said flight attendant's case, I came across a documentary about Paco Larrañaga's case, which happened on year 1997. The documentary was entitled "Give Up Tomorrow", and it was released year 2018. Why was Paco's case brought up to Christine Dacera's issue? Because both cases have somehow a similarity in a sense that the accused went through "trial by publicity" without sufficient evidences.

The name Paco Larrañaga was not new to me actually. I have heard and read about him years ago, but I never knew of the documentary until days ago. Curious as I am, I watched it. It was an hour and a half long documentary that talks about the truth of Paco Larrañaga's case.

Disclaimer: The things I am going to mention about the case are all based on the documentary, however my opinions are all about the documentary itself, as a whole.

First, who is Paco Larrañaga?

Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga is half Filipino and half Spanish citizen. He was attending a culinary school in Manila and if I am not mistaken, he was 19 years old that time which was year 1997 when this case happened. He was convicted, along six other suspects for the murder of Chiong sisters, Marijoy and Jacqueline who were from Cebu City. Hence, they were dubbed as "Cebu7". In 2004, the Supreme Court imposed the death penalty for the accused. And on 2006, through the help of the Spanish government, the death penalty was abolished. A treaty was signed between the government of Spain and Philippines in 2007 to allow Paco serve his sentence in Spain because he's still a Spanish citizen. Paco was then transferred to Spain.

No one knows what really happened to the Chiong sisters on the night of July 16 1997. In fact, only one body out of the two supposedly victims were found. Up to this day, the other one has not been found still. But where is Paco Larrañaga that day? According to his classmates and professors, and it was proven in the data of their school records, Paco attended his classes that day and was able to take his exams the day after. There were also photographs of him, on the night of July 16, 1997 having fun and in a party with his classmates. There were enough evidences to prove that Paco was innocent. He was in Manila and the incident happened on Cebu. How could he possibly fly to Cebu from Manila and return the next day? Something was definitely not right.

To add on to all of this, the body that was found didn't undergo DNA testing to prove that it was indeed, one of the Chiong sisters. That was supposed to be the key evidence to prove that the suspects were innocent but the judge did not approve for DNA testing. The judge convicted the Cebu7 and soon after, he committed suicide.

I cannot and will not going to narrate everything that was on the documentary because you have to see it yourself. It was well-done, you can say that the producers really researched about the issue. Everything was explained well. This documentary was worth your time. It was heartbreaking, and it will make you really angry. It will make you realize a lot of things about the justice system in the Philippines. It's embarrassing as a Filipino, but that is the truth.

And if ever you think your life is over, your life is a mess, remember Paco and the Cebu7. If you want to give up, tell yourself to give up tomorrow. And when tomorrow comes and you still want to give up, tell yourself again to give up tomorrow.

Title: Give Up Tomorrow

Rate: 10/10 [this is a personal rating]

Note: If you would like to watch the documentary, it's available on YouTube.

Thank you!