Sunday, September 20, 2004
 
  Lonely fight           waged 'to save Paco's soul'
by Suzzane B. Salva

     MIGUEL DEL GALLEGO admitted that many people, including his own brother, disapproved of his crusade.

     "He said why are you risking your life and the life of your children? But I told him that my children are the ones who pushed me to this."

     "If I get hit or killed, maybe somebody else will take over. But eventually this thing has to come out. Seven kids are in jail for a crime that did not happen," he said.

   Three of his daughters were among Paco Larrañaga's friends who insist to this day that the young man couldn't have committed the crime against sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong because he was at a party with them in Manila the mm

night of July 16, 1997 when the Chiong sisters disappeared. Two of his daughters are already living abroad.

      Cebu Daily News witnessed how del Gallego knew the case by heart. He compiled publications of the case from all papers and compared these to the available records from the prosecutors and from the court.

     Explaining a point, he would pick from a certain pile and show documents with markings to support his observations. To understand the intricacies of forensic investigation, he studied forensic science through the web.

     The businessman insisted that the body in the ravine was not of Marijoy.

      He said that the Chiongs, in their ads, described Marijoy as 5"4" tall, yet the medico legal report indicated that the body found in Carcar measured 5 feet tall.

      "There is missing some four inches," he said.

      Del Gallego said he is in the process of making a web site, which he would label: "Framed in Cebu (My Quest for Truth and Justice)" where he would place his findings and observations so others may access and see.

     He also plans to embark on a school tour to present his study among students and educators. The businessman said he had already presented his work to two civic organizations.