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People vs. Larranaga

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, APPELLEE, VS. FRANCISCO JUAN LARRAÑAGA ALIAS “PACO”; JOSMAN AZNAR; ROWEN ADLAWAN ALIAS "WESLEY", ALBERTO CAO ALIAS "ALLAN PAHAK"; ARIEL BALANSAG; DAVIDSON VALIENTE RUSIA ALIAS "TISOY TAGALOG"; JAMES ANTHONY UY ALIAS "WANGWANG"; AND JAMES ANDREW UY ALIAS "MM", APPELLANTS.

G.R. Nos. 138874-75 | 2004-02-03

D E C I S I O N
 
PER CURIAM:
 
For most of the Cebuanos, the proceedings in these cases will always be remembered as the "trial of the century." A reading of the voluminous records readily explains why the unraveling of the facts during the hearing before the court below proved transfixing and horrifying and why it resulted in unusual media coverage.

These cases involve the kidnapping and illegal detention of a college beauty queen along with her comely and courageous sister. An intriguing tale of ribaldry and gang-rape was followed by the murder of the beauty queen. She was thrown off a cliff into a deep forested ravine...