Maggie de la Riva rape case

During the late hours of night at around 11:00 p.m., Aquino and Canal visited Jaime Jose's residence at 21 Kalatagan St. in Makati, Rizal and asked if they could borrow his red convertible Pontiac. Jose wasn't supposed to be with them that night but only allowed them to borrow the car on the condition that they let him come along.

The trio went to a well-known cocktail lounge and night club in the Ermita district of the City of Manila, where they had several rounds of drinks until about 3:30 a.m. Monday. While drinking, they met a man named Frankie, whom they befriended only that night. Another friend of theirs, Basilio Pineda, had actually been in the club since 9:30 p.m. In the midst of their drinking session, Pineda started talking about Maggie de la Riva, reportedly saying he was “in love” with her, and adding that he even knew the actress was scheduled to have a video-taping session at the ABS studio.

After dropping off Frankie in his residence at the Cubao district, the group went to the ABS studio where Pineda and Roger allegedly tried to talk to the actress. Miss De la Riva, who had just finished filming in the venue. De la Riva, who did not know the men, apparently snubbed the group and drove off her bantam car with her maid Elena Calderon. Jose said Pineda decided to give chase.

The quartet followed the actress’ car up to 12th st. in front of her bungalow in New Manila. As de la Riva stopped her car and was about to step out, Pineda stopped the Pontiac beside the de la Riva's bantam, wherein she yelled at them, asking what they wanted. Pineda stepped out of his car and grabbed Maggie, dragging her into the car's backseat.

De la Riva entreated the appellants to release her but was responded with jeers, abusive and impolite language from the appellants, who threatened to kill her with their Thompson gun and douse her face with acid if she did not keep quiet. The two men seated on each side of Miss De la Riva started a slight abuse on her body: Jose put one arm around the complainant and forced his lips upon hers, while Aquino placed his arms on her thighs and lifted her skirt. De la Riva tried to resist them and continuously implored her captors to release her, telling them that she was the only breadwinner in the family and that her mother was alone at home and needed her company because her father was already dead. Aquino remarked that the situation was much better than he thought since no one could take revenge against them. De la Riva began to realize the futility of her pleas and prayed. The quartet became angry and cursed her. Every now and then Aquino would stand up and talk in whispers with Pineda, after which the two would exchange knowing glances with Cañal and Jose.

Reaching a dead-end street, Pineda turned the car around and headed towards Victoria Street, proceeding afterwards to Araneta Avenue, Sta. Mesa Street, Shaw Boulevard, and then to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. Upon reaching Makati, Aquino took a handkerchief from his pocket and, with the help of Jose, blindfolded Miss De la Riva. The latter was wad ordered once more to maintain silence under the threats of being stabbed or shot with their Thompson. Not long after, the car came to a stop at a motor hotel named the Swanky Hotel in Taft Avenue, Cartimar Pasay City, which was said to be owned by Pineda. The blindfolded Maggie was led out of the car to one of the suite rooms on the second floor of the hotel.

As soon as the quartet locked the suite's door, they placed Maggie on a bed and removed her blindfold. Basilio then instructed her to dance while disrobing, and the three other men expressed their lustful approval. Reluctantly, Maggie did as instructed. But after a while, some of the men grew impatient and decided to forcefully disrobe her themselves. One of them unzipped her dress, another unhooked her brassiere, while Pineda disrobed her underwear. She held on tightly to her dress to prevent it from being pulled down, but her efforts were in vain as all of the clothing fell off her.

Completely naked, Maggie was feasted on by the four, while trying to hide her private parts. The ordeal was said to last for ten minutes. As the men left the room, she sat on the floor desperately after failing to find a blanket to cover herself.

Jaime Jose then became the first to advance. As he undressed himself, Maggie asked him to convince his friends to release her while also crossing her legs tightly and rabidly resisting Jaime's advances but to no avail. Jose cursed her and hit her on several parts of her body; he then managed to force Maggie's legs open and successfully obtained carnal knowledge of her. Leaving the room, he gave his companions a turn.

Aquino entered the room and a struggle ensued. Like Jose, Aquino also hit Maggie's body and succeeded in fulfilling his carnal lust on her. Once Pineda has his turn, another scuffle took place wherein Pineda also hit Maggie and forced his carnal desire on the latter. During Canal's turn, he discovers Maggie fleeting in and out of consciousness due to shock wherein he orders the other three to revive her by torturous means such as pouring water on her, slapping, and crushing cigarettes on her shoulder. The other three men left as Canal successfully satisfied his carnal lust.

With the ordeal finished, the four redressed Maggie and ordered her to fix herself to give the appearance that nothing happened. Before leaving the hotel, they told her to tell her family that they mistook her for a hostess, and that she was released without harm when they found out that she was a movie actress. De la Riva was also warned not to inform the police, under the threat that she would be doused with acid if ever they were arrested and be released on bail. The quartet then blindfolded Miss De la Riva again and led her down from the hotel room wherein she was carried into the car. Jose held her head down on his lap, and kept it in that position during the trip, to prevent her from being seen by others.

The four finally decided to drop Maggie de la Riva in front of the Free Press Building in Pasong Tamo, Makati. not far from Epifanio de los Santos Avenue near Channel 5 to make it appear that she had just arrived from the studio. At 6:00 a.m. Pineda asked Jose to alight and hail a taxicab which was operated by less-known company. They let several taxicabs pass by before flagging a UBL taxicab driven by Miguel F. Campos. After they warned again Miss De la Riva not to inform anyone of what had happened to her, Canal accompanied her to the taxicab. Inside the vehicle, Maggie de la Riva broke down and cried, while also asking Campos several times if a car was following them; the latter answered no.

De la Riva was greeted by journalists and police officers, who had gathered in her home, along with her brother-in-law, Ben Suba. Seeing her mother Pilar, she reported to her of the ordeal. Heading to the upper floor of the de la Riva household, Maggie took a bath and was advised by her mother to douche herself to avoid the danger of pregnancy.

The family doctor, who was afterwards summoned, treated the complainant for external physical injuries but was not told about the sexual assaults. The same went for Patrolman Pablo Pascual, who had been sent by the desk officer, Sgt. Dimla, to the De la Riva residence when the latter received from a mobile patrol a report of the snatching. Pat. Pascual attempted to question de la Riva, but Ben Suba requested him to postpone the interrogation until she could be ready for it.

Jaime Gómez José was arrested in Makati by undercover police officers near the subdivision he lived in. After being cornered by detectives Pablo Pascual and Ricardo Aniceto, both who were disguised as ice cream vendors, Jose tried to escape by running away but was blocked another detective named Reynaldo Roldan, who was armed with a Thompson submachinegun. During his interrogation, he gave details of the commission of the crime and named Rogelio Cañal, Pineda, and Aquino as his companions.

While Maggie was at the police headquarters, she heard about Jaime Jose's arrest. That evening, she returned to the police headquarters wherein she met Jose, who stood up and told her not to incriminate him, claiming that he was not one of them. After stonily stared at Jose, while sitting down and crying, Maggie stood up and tried to scratch Jose's face to no avail, as she screamed “You raped me", “You were the first one who raped me", and "You, you were one of the boys that pulled my legs and raped me!”. A pale Jose sobbed soon thereafter.

Hearing of his arrest, Cañal, Pineda, and Aquino became frantic and met together in Pasay City as a manhunt operation ensued. They drove Jose's Mercedes-Benz to San Miguel, Bulacan to loose any law enforcement that were tracking them down. From Bulacan, the trio drove back to Manila, passing through Pasay City and proceeded to Batangas, where they checked-in at the Samson Ponti rest house in Lipa City using fictitious names. The three ate supper at a restaurant in Lipa City wherein they were unknowingly recognized by a waitress who had read about the De La Riva case in the newspaper, who then notified the local police. The following day, the three men transferred to another house in Katipunan Street, also in Lipa, which was owned by a Manila City official. A team of law enforcement officers lead by Detective Restituto Vinas joined up with members of the Lipa Police department and surrounded the house where the fugitives were hiding. The combined police force slipped into the backyard of the house and entered through the kitchen door wherein they arrested Canial and Pineda in the living room.

Aquino fled to the municipality of Taal, where he hid for three days, making law enforcement unable to find him. Out of conscience, Aquino surrendered himself to Aurelia Leviste, the wife of the Governor of Batangas.

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.[2] 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 6 February 1971, the Supreme Court modified the RTC decision, to declare the following:[3]

"... 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."

The remaining three assailants were executed by electric chair on 17 May 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.