Trigger Warning: Contains graphic violence in relation to death
Social media personality Xian Gaza claimed to have knowledge about the “last wish” of Davao-based model-businesswoman Yvonne Chua Plaza who was killed last December.
The personality on January 27 shared a now-deleted Facebook post in which he alleged that Yvonne’s soul “keeps on bothering” him from time to time.
“I’m posting this once and for all para sa peace of mind ko,” Xian wrote before.
He shared supposed screenshots of his Messenger chats with Yvonne, who claimed to be Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante III‘s “other woman.”
Durante previously served as the head of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) for then-President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Kailangan ko lang talagang mag-post dahil ito ‘yung huling habilin ni Yvonne bago siya mapatay,” Xian wrote.
“Yvonne, alam ko nababasa mo ito. Ginawa ko na ‘yung kahilingan mo. I’m very sorry kung wala along nagawa para maligtas ka. I pray that your soul may find eternal peace and happiness,” the internet personality added.
In one of the screenshots that reportedly featured Xian’s conversation with the model, Yvonne claimed that she might be dead “one of these days” and that “it might look like a suicide.”
“Pagbayarin mo ang may gawa,” she told him on June 22, 2022.
“Girlfriend ako ng isang high-ranking army general, dating PSG commander, now Brigadier General Jesus Durante III. And he is threatening to kill me ‘pag ‘di ako nakipagbalikan sa kanya. Tulungan mo ako magkaroon ng hustisya kapag may nangyari sa akin,” Yvonne said in her message.
“Wala na akong ibang mahingan ng tulong, naka-kulong ako sa kwarto, ‘di makalabas,” she added.
The Davao-based model said that she knows her days are numbered, claiming that Durante wants her to kill herself.
By August 2022, Yvonne once again approached Xian and told him that she could get killed “any time” because of certain “evidence” she possessed.
Xian then shared a screenshot of a news update that reported that a special investigation task group had identified Durante as the alleged mastermind of Yvonne’s killing on Dec. 30, 2022.
“I’m not an enemy of the general. He served the country very well and his personal issues won’t change that. The general is innocent until proven guilty,” Xian said in his deleted post.
“I refuse to cooperate [with] any criminal investigation nor court proceedings,” he added.
The Police Regional Office-Davao’s Special Investigation Task Group has already contacted Xian for his participation in the probe.
“We had invited him at the outset of the investigation, but he did not respond or cooperated with us,” PRO-Davao spokesperson PMaj. Eudisan Gultiano said to SunStar Davao.
“If he has more information, we would appreciate it if he cooperates with us [a]nd help the authority seek justice thru legal means and not by posting on social media. Our line is always open,” he added.
The killing
Reports said that Yvonne, 38, was shot at close range on the evening of December 30, moments after she got off a sports utility vehicle.
The model was about to enter the house she was renting inside Green Meadows Subdivision in Davao City’s Tugbok district.
Yvonne died on the spot after obtaining a gunshot wound on the head.
The Davao Region Police tagged Durante and a number of his subordinates, including six enlisted personnel, in the model’s killing which it said was a “crime of passion.”
Durante has since been relieved as commander of the 1001st Infantry Brigade in Davao de Oro after being named as a “person of interest” in the case.
The Philippine Army said the military official and his men will face court martial proceedings which will handle the administrative aspects of the cases.
The criminal aspects, meanwhile, will be handled by civil courts.
Representatives of Gabriela, ACT Teachers and the Kabataan party-lists have filed a resolution urging the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality to investigate Yvonne’s death in aid of legislation.
“The case of Plaza adds up to the numerous cases of violence against women perpetrated by men in uniform. It also proves that the culture of violence continues to thrive inside the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” part of the resolution reads.
