Lyra Sophia Tan

They say democracy means listening to the pleas of the people. In a democratic country such as the Philippines, citizens are known to be very vocal about their stance on a certain issue. A lot of times, the collective cries of Filipinos are able to overpower the government and pressure them into implementing change on the current policies and situations. Case in point, one of the most memorable protests in history is the People Power Revolution back in 1986 which ended former president Ferdinand E. Marcos’ 20 year-long presidential term, bringing democracy back to the Filipino people. In more recent years, a lot of voices have emerged along with different media outlets, often criticizing the government for their response to certain situations. The most prominent form of media, social media, enables everyone to have a platform to speak out and raise their concerns vis- à -vis a topic. It is a place where there are no boundaries to what you say, allowing one to express their dissent or agreement towards anything and everything under the sun. This means people are given opportunities to put pressure on the government and ask for better. A timely example of how the Filipino’s voices were used as weapons to fight for a better outcome to an incident was the New Year’s tragedy of the late flight attendant, Christine Dacera.

On the last day of December 2020, the late Christine Dacera was out partying with 11 other men at the City Garden Hotel in Poblacion, Makati City, only to be found dead inside a bathtub the next morning. It was a tough start of 2021 for her companions, accusing them of raping and killing the departed. A report by Jalea (2021) of CNN Philippines identified her companions that day as Rommer Galido, Rey Ingles, Louie de Lima, John Paul dela Serna, Clark Rapinan, Gregorio de Guzman, Valentine Rosales, Mark Anthony Rosales, Jammyr Cunanan, Eduard Madrid, and the hotel manager, John Paul Halili, who joined them later that night. An autopsy, led by medico-legal officer Police Major Michael Nick Sarmiento, was performed on the 2nd of January which confirms the claims of the Makati Medical Center, declaring the cause of death to be ruptured aortic aneurysm. Bruises were also found in the flight attendant’s right hand, thigh, and foot, as well as her knees and ankles. Chief Col. Harold Depositar, the head of the Makati City Police, announced the data gathered from the medico-legal report to the media. The Philippine National Police released a different statement on the 4th of January, saying they have already “solved” Christine Dacera’s “rape-slay” case. Furthermore, the PNP Chief Police General Debold Sinas was proudly announcing that they had arrested Dela Serna, Galido, and Halili, tagging them as rapists and threatening the remaining 8 men to surrender. Moreover, on the same day, Makati City’s Prosecutor’s Office received a rape with homicide complaint during inquest proceedings. On January 5th, the Makati City police chief, Col. Harold Depositar mentioned that semen was also found in Dacera’s body which was not included in the initial medico-legal report. However, the suspects of the alleged “rape-slay” case of the late Christine Dacera were defended by citizens in social media as netizens condemn the arrest of the men without proper evidence, inciting the further investigation of the flight attendant’s death. Responses of people from social media helped fight injustice done to the 11 men involved in the Christine Dacera case by defending the accused, raising awareness on human rights, and upholding the truth.

The way social media responded to what was prematurely declared by the PNP as a case that was “solved” led both officials and other netizens to think otherwise. Cries from social media rose, people who knew the suspects defended them, testifying that some of the men involved in the incident were in fact gay. One tweet from @ItsHudasBarabas on Twitter claimed to have personally known the men tagged as suspects wherein she wrote:

So yun, research-research.. most of the people on those list are Bi/Gay.
Bottomesa, allergic sa bilat, mahilig sa oten etc.
They were close to Xtine because she was very openminded, they (according to Valentine Rosales’s IG story) even call her “Tranny” of the group.

— Judas Ismaharot (@ItsHudasBarabas) January 5, 2021

According to her, she used to be block mates with some of the guys back when she was studying at the University of the Philippines Mindanao. Jorem Lim, another friend of one of the suspects, posted screenshots on Facebook on January 5th from a conversation between him and one of the accused. He captioned the post with the following:

Lim’s post has garnered over 2,000 reactions on Facebook and more than 3,000 shares. Garald Pedido quoted the post as well, saying:

Indeed, there is always more than one side to every story. The reactions from people who personally knew the suspects have initiated discussion across social media. People started taking down posts where they originally spitted out hatred towards the men and accusing them of rape, saying it is wrong to conclude the situation without proper evidence. It cleared the air for hasty speculations, making other netizens realize that there is more to a story than what meets the eye. This was the first step towards clearing the names of the 11 men: asking their side of the story and demanding actual evidence to prove that Dacera’s death was due to rape. Additionally, on January 5th, the Makati Police chief, Col. Harold Depositar rebutted the attacks of netizens saying that even though a man is gay, when intoxicated, his male instincts will resurface. The fact that he was uncomfortable meant that social media did something to fight against the injustice. Depositar explained in the statement below:

“Lalaki pa din sila. May instinct 'yan and… you know, lalo na if you’re under the influence of intoxicating alcohol, and kung may presence of drugs pa — lalo na,”

[They are still men. They have instincts, most especially if they are under the influence of intoxicating alcohol as well as the presence of drugs.] (Manahan & Antonio, 2021)

This led to an even bigger issue on social media where members of the LGBTQ+ community have risen to laugh at Depositar’s baseless remarks. @peejhay29 took to Tiktok to post a video of himself pretending to be drunk and dancing to the background music – demonstrating how he, himself, as part of the LGBTQ+ community, actually is when drunk, slamming Depositar’s claims that gay men become straight under the influence of alcohol.

@peejhay29

PNP: kahit bakla yan, kapag nakainom ng alak nagiging lalaki yan. ME: bakla pa din naman e 😂#forfun

♬ original sound - 🏦 LABS ⚓️ - 🏳️‍🌈 LABS ⚓️

I mean don't just assume na we will turn into rapist pag nakainom Kami. ugh PNP try again

— Sassa Gurl 🏳️‍🌈 (@Itssassagurl) January 5, 2021

[I mean, don’t just assume that we will turn into rapists when we are drunk. Ugh, PNP, try again.]

Many started to realize that the statements released by some in the police force bear no actual truth, leading them to question what really went on behind Dacera’s death. This forced the hand of those taking on the case to drive the investigation further as netizens collectively criticized the way it was handled.

      As people began to see the bigger picture, some also started to remind others of basic human rights under the Philippine constitution to avoid hasty arrests. Under Article 3 Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved…”. This means that it was illegal to tag the 11 men guilty as there was no proper evidence. A human rights defender Francis Baraan IV went on Twitter to address the following:

Guys, Niccolo is right.

I had to delete my tweet of the pics of friends of Christine, who are just persons of interest–NOT SUSPECTS–by cops.

While we all want #JusticeForChristineDacera, we must still remember that EVERYBODY is INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE in a court of law. https://t.co/jfKXX5VOco

— Francis Baraan IV (@MrFrankBaraan) January 4, 2021

The truth is, a lot of times, even the police need reminding of the proper procedure as stated by the law. This was not the only instance where people leveraged social media to remind the public of proper protocol. Similarly, Mike Adrien (@mikeadrien on Twitter) compared the issue with the flight attendant to a 1997 murder case of the Chiong sisters, where Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga was convicted even though he was innocent. Mike reminded everyone of the 1997 issue saying:

To the public,

As much as we want to get the justice for Christine Dacera, may you not be overwhelmed by emotions and be dissent upon looking the case, or else we will witness and waste another Paco Larranaga in the coming years. pic.twitter.com/Zt53N5jjoK

— Mike Adriean 🐋 (@mikeadriean) January 5, 2021

A documentary entitled “Give Up Tomorrow” talking about the Chiong Sisters case trended back in 2018. A lot of people felt sympathy for Larrañaga, and Mike took the opportunity to bring back the issue and ask for the public to be careful with the case of Dacera in order to avoid another injustice. In a fast-paced world, people are often quick to judge and draw conclusions, but some netizens reminded us of the importance of slowing down and following the proper procedure, remembering that those who were put in the spotlight are not just names, but people with families, people with friends, who all deserve a rightful trial. The police force was now put under pressure as they realized that they could not get away with simply tagging the issue a “rape-slay” case. As a result, on January 6th, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. IIdebrandi Usana said that the case could still not be considered "closed". Moreover, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra mentioned that the National Bureau of Investigation's forensic medicine team is seeking to further investigate the flight attendant's cause of death. Meanwhile, the Makati City Prosecutor's Office, as pressured by the media, ordered the release of the detained suspects, saying more evidence was needed before reaching a conclusion. Social media’s power initiated a month-long investigation to prove the true cause of Christine Dacera’s death.

       Netizens upheld the objective truth, preventing theories to become a person’s reality. On January 27th, during the second hearing in the preliminary investigation, homicide was ruled out as Dacera's cause of death, confirming the reason to be ruptured aortic aneurysm. The semen in her vagina is found to have not been from the 11 men and was from another night. However, even though the truth prevailed, Sharon Dacera, Christine’s mother, still took her stand and insisted that her daughter died from rape. Sharon kept putting the blame on the gay men her daughter was with when she stated the following:

“Para sa'kin ni-rape po ang anak ko. 'Pag nakita mo yung katawan ni Christine, if you are the mother you will surely feel the pain suffered by Christine from them but my daughter cannot speak anymore because she died”

[For me, my daughter was raped. If you can see the body of Christine, if you are the mother you will surely feel the pain suffered by Christine from them but my daughter cannot speak anymore because she died.] (Araja, 2021)

Furthermore, she accused her daughter’s friends when she said:

"Sana nung nalaman nila nagkasakit-sakit ang ulo nga anak ko, meron namang clinic siguro ang hotel para magpatawag siya sa information desk. Usually merong ganun, bakit di niya ginawa? Talagang krimen, patay na anak ko. Talagang may krimen," 

[When they knew Christine was having headaches, they should have called the information desk, there's probably a clinic at the hotel. Why did they not do it? It's really a crime, my daughter is dead. There was really a crime.] (Araja, 2021)

The elder Dacera sought the opportunity to put the blame on the men for her daughter’s death, but social media exposed her for her actions, feeling disgusted at her attempt to convict the innocent. One Twitter user @jinbeomskaia tweeted the following:

Kung ako nanay ni Dacera, di ko ipipilit na rape. Like how can you sleep at night peacefully knowing na yung anak mo namatay because of a bad reason?

— kaia || ENCORE 🇵🇭 (@jinbeomskaia) January 29, 2021