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TWELVE years after the abduction, rape and death of her two daughters, Thelma Chiong has decided to move on.
The 56-year-old mother said the wounds of losing Marijoy and Jacqueline back in 1997 have finally started to heal. However, with only the body of Marijoy buried in a cemetery plot meant for the two girls, Chiong said she hoped that the remains of Jacqueline would still be found.
?Twelve years have passed. We?ve accepted what happened. Though it would be better if Jackie?s body was here, too,? said Chiong, as she and her family visited the grave of Marijoy at the Queen City Memorial Gardens at Cebu City?s North Reclamation Area as the Catholic church commemorated All Saints? Day yesterday and All Souls? Day today.
?I leave everything to God,? said Chiong.
Chiong was accompanied by her husband Dionisio and six other family members at the cemetery.
Marijoy and Jacqueline were abducted in the evening of July 16, 1997, while waiting for their father to pick them up from the Ayala Center Cebu.
A body believed to be Marijoy?s was found in a ravine in Carcar City two days later. Jacqueline?s body was never found.
Seven men were convicted by court for the abduction, rape and murder of the two sisters.
Following tradition, the Chiong family brought flowers to Marijoy?s grave and lit candles.
Akin to the family?s Chinese lineage, Dionisio also lit Chinese incense in front of a gravestone where a picture of the Chiong sisters were present.
Dionisio said he has tried looking for Jacqueline?s body himself, reaching as far as Mindanao to look for his daughter?s remains, but to no avail.
?I?m hoping that Jacqueline?s remains will still be found,? he said.
