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POV Community Engagement & Education DISCUSSION GUIDE Give Up Tomorrow A Film by Michael Collins & Marty Syjuco www.pbs.org/pov LETTERS FROM THE FILMMAKERS DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Producer Marty Syjuco and I had been friends for a few years when his older brother, Paco Larrañaga’s brother-in-law, asked for our help. I had heard that Paco was accused of murdering two women on the island of Cebu in the Philippines, but everyone in the family was embarrassed to talk about it and was 100 percent sure that the Supreme Court would overturn his death sentence. I retained some skepticism—until I read the letter from the 35 “unheard witnesses” in the case. I was in a café on New York City’s Lower East Side, and the letter brought me to tears. Paco was my age, and over the previous seven years, while I had thrived, he had waited, unjustly condemned to execution, in a horrific gang-run prison. Director Michael Collins There was no way to ignore the injustice; I had a background in video Photo courtesy of Joshua Z. Weinstein and had long believed in film’s ability to create social change. But it was only when I realized how passionate I had become about this story that I felt the full power of the medium. Passion alone does not make good cinema, though, and it has taken seven years to complete this project. Our first step was to go to Los Angeles to interview two of the letter writers who attested to Paco’s whereabouts when the crime was committed in 1997. They had left the Philippines, partially out of disgust over this case, but also because they felt haunted by guilt—the same guilt we would feel if we were unable to reverse a clear and terrible injustice. At our first meeting in Los Angeles, the two broke down and wept over their powerlessness and failure to make anyone listen. They painted a picture of cronyism, corruption and class and race conflict in the Philippines that made us realize this injustice was only the tip of a very deep iceberg. In the Philippines, a few people, galvanized by the opportunity to do the right thing, supported us with housing, resources, information and encouragement. Others held back, believing that the system was beyond reform and the risk in going against police, presidents and drug lords was too high. Paco, who soon will have spent half his life in prison, was reticent for other reasons: When we discussed the case and prison, he became cold and somber. But when we talked about his pre-trial life, he was full of warmth and enthusiasm. I regret that—because of the prison environment and Paco’s experience of media as enemy—we could not adequately capture on film the sweetness and joy in his personality that we glimpsed, and that Paco’s friends and family saw as his essential nature. I came to understand that we could prove Paco’s innocence over and over with the facts, but that would never be enough. We needed not only to expose a deep and complex dynamic of corruption and injustice, but also to reveal the part of the culture of the Philippines that is human, decent and suffering. Michael Collins Director, Give Up Tomorrow DISCUSSION GUIDE Give Up Tomorrow |2 LETTERS FROM THE FILMMAKERS PRODUCER’S STATEMENT I first met Paco at my brother’s wedding to Mimi, Paco’s older sister. Eight years younger than I, he was just an overweight kid, and I didn’t pay him much attention. Later, when I heard about his arrest and trial, I went on with my life. Part of me figured the courts would sort it out. Another part was so inured to the injustice and corruption that form the background noise of the Philippines, that I, like most Filipinos, was hobbled by fatalism. After moving to New York and working in film distribution, I began to crave something more meaningful and creative. When Paco’s sentence was elevated to death, and I saw the letter from the 35 “unheard witnesses,” I knew I was at a crossroads. My own mother had seen Paco in Manila—300 miles from the scene of the crime—on the day of the murders and had been denied the right to testify in court and corroborate his alibi. Producer Marty Syjuco I know some will question my objectivity and intent because Photo courtesy of Joshua Z. Weinstein Paco is my brother-in-law, but that relationship gave me inside access and perspective. It also opened my eyes to a part of the Philippines that, as one of its beneficiaries, I had ignored. My family members are mestizos, a group that traditionally benefits from endemic corruption and cronyism. Educated in Canada and the United States, I had lived in a gated community in the Philippines, and I had been naively and willfully ignorant of the poverty all around me—blind even to the thousands of street children who haunt our cities. My clan was well protected by race, political connections and wealth from the worst aspects of our country’s deeply flawed system. It was precisely my comfort in this role, and my perspectives as a political and familial insider, that made me particularly suited—and obligated—to act in Paco’s case. I had left the Philippines, but it lived inside me. And I knew I had to return. I love the country and have friends and family there, but I have grown to abhor the fatalism that allows people to turn away from injustice, and that helps the elite control the poor and uneducated. But even for the elite, the country’s poorly paid and ill-trained police are a persistent threat—to be bribed as a first resort, and from which to escape if that fails. Under political pressure to solve crimes, they commonly charge any vaguely likely suspect. I strongly believe that most of the Philippines’ prisoners have been denied due process or are innocent—or both, as we found in Paco’s case—and that injustice is facilitated by the media. Once I had believed what I read and saw, but first- hand knowledge made me question so many of my birthright preconceptions and opened not only a sea of skepticism, but an ocean of hope. Paco Larrañaga is just one among many. And the Philippines is not alone in failing to build the trappings of democracy, including elections, on a solid foundation of impartial institutions, such as independent courts. There are thousands of Pacos around the world, from Egypt to the United States. We are hoping that this film will make not only Filipinos, but people of all nationalities, sit up, pay attention and act. Marty Syjuco Producer, Give Up Tomorrow DISCUSSION GUIDE Give Up Tomorrow |3 TABLE OF CONTENTS CREDITS 2 Letters From the Filmmakers 4 Introduction Writer 5 Potential Partners Faith Rogow, PhD 5 Key Issues Insighters Educational Consulting 5 Using This Guide 6 Background Information Guide Producers and Background Research, POV 6 Paco Larrañaga Case Summary Eliza Licht Vice President, 7 Philippines Country Profile Community Engagement & Education, POV 8 Cases of Wrongful Conviction Jamie Dobie 9 Prisoner Transfer Treaties Coordinator, 10 Media Responsibility in the Philippines Community Engagement & Education, POV 11 Selected People Featured Aubrey Gallegos Assistant, in Give Up Tomorrow Community Engagement & Education, POV 14 General Discussion Questions Abby Harri 14 Discussion Prompts Marlaina Martin 17 Taking Action Samantha Rivera 17 Resources Nicole Tsien 19 How to Buy the Film Interns, Community Engagement & Education, POV Design: Rafael Jiménez INTRODUCTION Eyeball This could be a fictional thriller—a who-done-it with an intriguing Copy Editor: cast of characters. But it is very real. In 1997, as a tropical storm Natalie Danford beat down on an island in the Philippines, the Chiong sisters left work and never made it home. Paco Larrañaga, a 19-year-old student, was arrested, tried and sentenced to death for their rape Thanks to those who reviewed this guide: and murder, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence. Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco Give Up Tomorrow documents Larrañaga’s controversial trial—one Filmmakers, Give Up Tomorrow of the most sensational ever in the Philippines. The film’s examination of the proceedings strips the veneer of raw emotions to reveal shocking corruption. For more than a decade, two grieving mothers find themselves entangled in a case that ends a nation’s use of capital punishment but fails to free an innocent man. The filmmakers draw the audience into a straightforward, yet complex, journey that examines prison conditions, coerced confessions, hints of political favors, media sensationalism and the boundaries of international law. Uncomfortably, viewers are left to ponder the impact on individuals, families, communities and a nation when a system that is supposed to deliver justice does the opposite. DISCUSSION GUIDE Give Up Tomorrow |4 POTENTIAL PARTNERS KEY ISSUES Give Up Tomorrow is well suited for use in a variety of Give Up Tomorrow is an excellent tool for outreach and settings and is especially recommended for use with: will be of special interest to people looking to explore the following topics: • Your local PBS station • Groups that have discussed previous PBS and POV • Citizenship films relating to criminal justice systems, unjust • Corruption imprisonment or the death penalty, including • Crime/criminal justice Presumed Guilty, Prison Town, USA and Better • Death penalty This World. • Fair trials • Groups focused on any of the issues listed in the Key Issues section • Human rights • High school students • International law • Faith-based organizations and institutions • Journalism • Cultural, art and historical organizations, • Justice institutions and museums • Justice system • Civic, fraternal and community groups • Law • Academic departments and student groups at • Media literacy colleges, universities and high schools • Philippines • Community organizations with a mission to • Prison/incarceration promote education and learning, such as your • Spain local library • Wrongful convictions USING THIS GUIDE This guide is an invitation to dialogue.

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