Maggie de la Riva rape case

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Maggie de la Riva (born September 3, 1942), a 24-year-old actress and host, was abducted in front of her home in New Manila, Quezon City on June 26, 1967, by four men, all of who are sons of influential families, and taken to a motor hotel where she was abused and raped.

Her rape case became one of the most publicized cases in Philippine history.

Maggie de la Riva[]

Maggie de la Riva was born in Manila to Pilar Torrente (Spanish mestiza) and Juan de la Riva (German Swiss).^[1]

In 1958, Riva completed her elementary and high school at Miriam College (then known as Maryknoll College) and finished secretarial training in 1960 at Saint Theresa's College. In 1963, she was selected as one of the top five finalists for the beauty pageant Miss Caltex of 1963. In that same year, Riva also represented Filipino gowns for the Fashion Guild of the Philippines under the designer "Millie's Gowns". In 1964, she was hired as a brand promoter for "Respect the Centavo", a savings advertisement. Before she became an actress she was a ballet dancer.^[1]

As a movie actress, she was paid ₱8,000 per picture. At ABS-CBN, she performed in radio broadcasts and television shows (₱800 per month in permanent shows, ₱300 per month in live promotional shows, and ₱100–200 per appearance as guest in other shows). She was the sole breadwinner of the family after the death of her father, Juan. Her mother took care of the family.^[2]

She first appeared with Joseph Estrada in Istambay (English: Bystander). It was Estrada that gave her a break in becoming a star. Her most memorable role was in Ang Langit ay para sa Lahat, which she considers her best work. She was also a singer and was always a guest in the leading nightclubs in Manila. She had her own TV show titled Maggie on ABS 3. She was also a guest artist in Tanghalan sa Darigold and a recurring guest in Tindahan sa Nayon in VG Television Production on MBC 11.^[1]

Perpetrators[]

The four perpetrators, all of whom are from wealthy and influential families, consisted of the following:

Trial[]

Maggie moved from her home in New Manila to a safehouse in Camp Crame where she became subjected to threats. The trial then took place on July 11, 1967, in the Quezon City Court of First Instance (the predecessor to the Regional Trial Court), presided by Lourdes Paredes San Diego.

During the investigation, Pineda maintained the account that they had raped and assaulted Dela Riva as retribution for hitting their car. In addition, he claims to have bribed dela Riva for ₱1,000 for a striptease, claiming that she willingly complied. The court found the story contemptuous and immediately rendered a guilty verdict with a grand total penalty of ₱40,000 equally split among all four assailants.

On October 2, 1967, the Court of First Instance found the accused; Jaime José, Rogelio Sevilla, RCE/RME, Eduardo Aquino, and Basílio Pineda, Jr. guilty of the crime of forcible abduction with rape under Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, and sentenced each of them to death by electric chair.

Appeals and execution of the convicted[]

Imprisonment and appeals[]

The four men were sent to Muntinlupa National Penitentiary while their appeals were being heard. While in prison, they met an American missionary named Olga Robertson, who resided outside the prison complex and devoted most of her time in prison ministry. Olga visited the three condemned men and request that they memorize the Bible verse John 14:6. Three months later, she visited the men again but she discovered that they were no longer interested in spiritual things. Determined to save the souls of the men, she returned the day before their scheduled execution. Aquino quickly recited John 14:6 while Jaime Jose was faint with grief and fear.

On December 28, 1970, Rogelio Canal died from drug overdose in 19 two years before the executions.^[3] Later on February 6, 1971, the Supreme Court found the remaining three men guilty and they were also ordered to pay P40,000, with each having to pay ¼ of the cost.

In a per curiam judgment in G.R. No. L-28232 on February 6, 1971, the Supreme Court modified the RTC decision, to declare the following:^[2]

"... appellants Jaime G. Jose, Rogelio Sevilla, Basilio Pineda, Jr., and Edgardo P. Aquino are pronounced guilty of the complex crime of forcible abduction with rape, and each and every one of them is likewise convicted of three (3) other crimes of rape. As a consequence thereof, each of them is hereby sentenced to four (4) death penalties; all of them shall, jointly and severally, indemnify the complainant of the sum of ₱10,000 in each of the four crimes, or a total of ₱40,000; and each shall pay one-fourth (1/4) of the costs."

Executions[]

The remaining three assailants were executed by electric chair on May 17, 1972, and by direct order of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, while the actual proceedings were broadcast on national radio.^[4]

On the day of their execution, the condemned ate a breakfast of fried chicken with bread and coffee, then had their heads shaved at 10:00. Their last meal was a lunch of rice, kare-kare, chicken tinola, lobster, crispy pata, lechon, fried lapu-lapu, and ice cream. The condemned were stated to have been uncontrollably weeping during a radio interview.

By early afternoon, Olga Robertson brought other inmates who sang hymns of praise to encourage the three condemned men. Nine doctors administered to the condemned before they entered the electric chair chamber.

At their execution, a horde of press were divided to three groups in order to witness each execution.

Jaime José was the first to enter the death chamber. As he was strapped to the chair, he entered a state of shock after he was sedated. He spent his final moments weeping as his face was covered with a leather mask, his bare feet resting on a wet block of quarry stone. Among the witnesses was his father, José, who had promised to his son that he would be present in his final moments. His mother, Dolores, was at Malacanang Palace for a private audience with the President to appeal for a pardon; Marcos accordingly declined due to the widespread public anger over the incident. José was executed when three prison guards activated switches to the electric chair, of which only one was the live switch. After the initial shock, when the prison doctor found him to still be alive, it was debated whether Jose be released back to his cell if the first shock didn't kill him. José was given another application of current and was pronounced dead at 3:20 p.m.

Basílio Pineda, the second to be executed, was forcibly dragged to the death chamber due to a slight commotion and was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m.

The final convict to be executed, Edgardo Aquino, was the only condemned who appeared to be repentant, and showing remorse for the crime. A prison chaplain, head of the prison guards, and doctor were stated to have heard his last words: "Avoid bad companions and obey your parents". He was pronounced dead at 4:10 p.m.

Olga believes that the three men went from the executioners chair into the arms of their Savior and that Aquino triumphantly said, "Lord Jesus, I give you my life and no one can take it from me".

The three men's bodies were then taken to the Bilibid Hospital morgue for final identification and were claimed the next day by the relatives. Jose's funeral had his casket closed for the entire duration of the wake until his burial.

Aftermath and legacy[]

The criminal proceedings and execution announcements of each of the accused were broadcast on public radio station DZRH, causing sensationalism and public hysteria. Dela Riva's ordeal pioneered the subject of rape in the Philippines.^[5][6]

On March 6, 2017, Dela Riva maintained on Philippine national television that the death penalty should still be a part of the judicial conviction of rape and assault cases.^[7] The death penalty had been abolished by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2006.

At present, the Swanky Hotel where the incident occurred still stands, and has since been renamed Galaxy Lodge. The death row cell block where the four men were held along with its electric chair chamber continued to be in use until 1976 when the electric chair was retired and executions were carried out by firing squad. The electric chair used in the execution was destroyed by fire but was salvaged and repaired for a museum exhibit. A new death house was built to house lethal injection executions and the chair is now displayed in the present death house, which functions as the Bilibid Museum while the death row cellblock has been converted to a maximum security compound.

In popular culture[]

The reputed incident was dramatized into the 1994 film The Maggie de la Riva Story (God... Why Me?). The film starred actress Dawn Zulueta as the titular character. Her niece, singer Ana Rivera, played her sister Medy dela Riva-Suba, while the late Miguel Rodríguez played Jaime José. Dela Riva herself made a cameo appearance in the film.

References[]