Innocent on Death Row (2011)
The Philippines, 1997. As a tropical storm beats down on the Philippine island of Cebu, two sisters leave work and never make it home. That same night, hundreds of miles away in Manila on a different island, Paco Larranaga, 19, is at a party, surrounded by dozens of reliable witnesses. The missing women, Marijoy, 21,and Jacqueline Chiong, 23, are Chinese-Filipinos. Paco, accused of their rapes and murders, is a Spanish mestizo who belongs to a political clan that includes a former president. Beefy and tough, with a past of petty offenses, he neatly fits the role of privileged thug - and that is how he is cast by a frenzied media circus that cheers his eventual sentence to death by lethal injection. Reflecting schisms of race, class, and political power at the core of the Philippines' tumultuous democracy, clashing families, institutions, and individuals face off to convict or free Paco. Their irreconcilable versions of reality and justice play out in a case that ends a country's use of capital punishment, yet fails to free an innocent man.
Primary Title
- Innocent on Death Row
Date Broadcast
- Saturday 14 March 2015
Release Year
- 2011
Start Time
- 15 : 10
Finish Time
- 16 : 00
Duration
- 50:00
Channel
- BBC World News
Broadcaster
- British Broadcasting Corporation
Programme Description
- The Philippines, 1997. As a tropical storm beats down on the Philippine island of Cebu, two sisters leave work and never make it home. That same night, hundreds of miles away in Manila on a different island, Paco Larranaga, 19, is at a party, surrounded by dozens of reliable witnesses. The missing women, Marijoy, 21,and Jacqueline Chiong, 23, are Chinese-Filipinos. Paco, accused of their rapes and murders, is a Spanish mestizo who belongs to a political clan that includes a former president. Beefy and tough, with a past of petty offenses, he neatly fits the role of privileged thug - and that is how he is cast by a frenzied media circus that cheers his eventual sentence to death by lethal injection. Reflecting schisms of race, class, and political power at the core of the Philippines' tumultuous democracy, clashing families, institutions, and individuals face off to convict or free Paco. Their irreconcilable versions of reality and justice play out in a case that ends a country's use of capital punishment, yet fails to free an innocent man.
Classification
- Unknown
Owning Collection
- Television Vault
Broadcast Platform
- Television
Languages
- English
Captions
Live Broadcast
- No
Rights Statement
- Made for the University of Auckland's educational use as permitted by the Screenrights Licensing Agreement.
Subjects
- Death row inmates--Philippines--Case studies
- Death row--Philippines
- Capital punishment--Philippines
Genres
- Crime
- Documentary
Contributors
- Michael Collins (Director)
- Marty Syjuco (Producer)
- Ramona Diaz (Executive Producer)
- Eric Daniel Metzgar (Executive Producer)
- Adam Crystal (Composer)
- Joshua Weinstein (Cinematographer)
- Michael Collins (Cinematographer)
- Thoughtful Robot Productions (Production Unit)
- ITVS (Production Unit)
- BBC (Production Unit)
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting (Funder)
- The Why Foundation (Funder)
Subjects
- Death row inmates--Philippines--Case studies
- Death row--Philippines
- Capital punishment--Philippines