Flor Contemplacion

Flor Ramos Contemplacion (7 January 1953 – 17 March 1995) was a Filipina domestic worker who was executed in Singapore after being convicted of murdering a fellow Filipina maid and the three-year-old boy whom she was babysitting. At the time, her case as well as her eventual sentencing severely strained diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Singapore, although relations soon recovered.
Flor Contemplacion was born in San Pablo City in the Laguna province of Luzon, and was the second youngest of ten children. Her father died when she was 7 years old, and due to the increased financial pressure on her rural family she moved to Manila to live with an elder sister when she was 10 years old. Contemplacion dropped out of school aged 12 and soon after began working as a housemaid. Contemplacion got married in 1972 when she was 19 years old and eventually had four children. Her husband walked out on the family in 1987, leaving Contemplacion as the sole breadwinner. In 1988, she travelled to Singapore in search of work to support her young family, eventually finding employment as a domestic servant in the Cardiff Road area of Serangoon. Contemplacion often worked seven days a week from 6am until midnight, doing household chores and looking after her employer's child.
On 4 May 1991, Delia Mamaril Maga (born on 6 October 1955, in Tarlac), a 34-year-old Filipino domestic worker, was found strangled to death in a five bedroom apartment on the ninth floor of HDB Block 147 on Gangsa Road in Bukit Panjang. A three-year-old boy, Nicholas Huang, whom Maga had been taking care of, was discovered lying next to her having been drowned in a bucket of water. The victims' bodies were discovered by Huang's parents, who had employed Maga for the previous 4 years, after they had arrived home to their apartment shortly after 1pm. Their two-year-old daughter was located unharmed in Maga's locked bedroom.
Singaporean police investigating the crime scene found no signs of a struggle or any ransacking of the flat, which combined with the fact the front door grille was locked when the owners returned home suggested that Maga knew her killer and granted them entry to the apartment. Interviews with neighbor Lucrecia Galuga revealed that she last saw Maga and the two children alive at 10am, and Maga had mentioned that a friend was due to visit her later on that morning. Detectives then began to identify, locate and question all of Maga's known associates in Singapore.
At around 7pm, police arrested 38-year-old Filipino citizen Flor Ramos Contemplacion at HDB Block 633 on Veerasamy Road in Kallang, after eliminating all other suspects from their enquiries. Contemplacion was found in possession of luxury items (seven watches, a Konica Minolta brand camera and a pearl necklace) that were believed to have been stolen from Maga. Investigations revealed that Contemplacion had visited Maga at the apartment in Bukit Panjang several times before and had met Nicholas Huang on those occasions. This fact raised the possibility that Contemplacion killed Huang and Maga to prevent her being identified, however the life of the two-year-old girl was spared as she was unable to speak due to her young age.
During her interrogation by the police, Contemplacion claimed to have left her employer's house on Cardiff Road the previous morning to deliver a package to her niece at Don Long Mansion in Katong, but she was not at home when Contemplacion arrived. However, when the police contacted the owner of the apartment to check Contemplacion's alibi he denied she had visited the property. On the afternoon of 6 May 1991, Contemplacion finally confessed to killing both victims and gave two statements to police via a Tagalog interpreter. That evening, investigating officers brought Contemplacion and the interpreter to the crime scene on Gangsa Road, where she described to the detectives how she was admitted to the apartment by Maga and what happened inside on the day of the murders. On 7 May 1991, Contemplacion was charged with the double murder of Delia Mamaril Maga and Nicholas Huang and then remanded in custody to await trial.
On 26 January 1993, Contemplacion's trial began in the High Court of Singapore before Justice T. S. Sinnathuray. In her opening speech, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kamala Ponnampalam described how the victim's dead bodies were discovered by Huang's parents, who after failing to resuscitate Nicholas then called the police. Investigating officers examined Maga's personal diary and discovered the name and address of Flor Contemplacion, who was then located and questioned. Testimony by forensic pathologist Doctor Wee Keng Poh revealed that Maga died from asphyxia due to strangulation and Huang's death had been caused by drowning. According to the expert witness, another person had used an elastic cord wound around Maga's neck to apply moderate force for approximately 5 minutes, while the immersion of a young child's face in water for a similar time would cause them to drown.
Contemplacion's lawyer Ng Wing Cheong challenged the admissibility of five statements she gave to police after her arrest, asserting that they were made under duress while she was fatigued after hours of intensive questioning by detectives. During cross examination, Contemplacion claimed police used a picture of the Virgin Mary to frighten her into incriminating herself, as being a Catholic her belief was sinners would not go to Heaven. Contemplacion also claimed she was not informed of her right to have a lawyer present prior to giving the statements, and that detectives shouted and screamed at her that she would be hanged if she did not tell the truth.
However, Contemplacion conceded to the prosecutor that all statements were made voluntarily without any threat, inducement or promise being made before or during the recording of the statements by Tagalog interpreter Aurora Navarro (who was provided by the Philippine Embassy in Singapore) or herself. DPP Ponnampalam countered there was no evidence the Special Investigations Section had such a picture in their office, and that the police officers who interrogated Contemplacion confirmed that no pictures were shown to her during her questioning. Justice T.S Sinnathuray therefore ruled all five statements were given voluntarily and could be admitted as evidence.
The prosecution thereafter submitted as evidence the statements made by Contemplacion, where she described making friends with Maga in June 1990. On the morning of the murders, Contemplacion went to the apartment in Bukit Panjang to meet Maga, as she wanted to hand over a parcel that Maga would deliver to her parents during her upcoming holiday to the Philippines. However, Maga refused to take the package with her, saying it was too heavy to bring on the airplane. While Contemplacion was talking to Maga, she suddenly had a psychotic episode where she broke out into a cold sweat and felt the urge to harm Maga. Contemplacion then strangled Maga from behind with an elastic cord and when she was dead dragged her body into a bathroom. There she discovered Nicholas playing with toys in a bucket of water, and Contemplacion grasped him by the upper body and dunked his head under the water until he stopped moving. Contemplacion then grabbed some of Maga's possessions and fled the apartment.
At the close of the prosecution's case, Justice T.S Sinnathuray declared that prima facie evidence had been established against the accused and called on Contemplacion to make her defence against the charge of murdering Della Maga and Nicholas Huang. However, when called to the stand, Contemplacion opted to remain silent. Justice T.S Sinnathuray warned Contemplacion that if the prosecution's case was unrebutted it would warrant a conviction on both murder charges, and her legal team also explained the consequences to her. When Justice T.S Sinnathuray thereafter invited the defence legal team to rebut the accusations against Contemplacion, her lead counsel Ng Wing Cheong informed the court that in light of his client's refusal to give evidence he had decided not to call any witnesses or make any submissions on her behalf either. DPP Ponnampalam also declined to present any arguments due to the stance of the defence team.
On the afternoon of 29 January 1993, Flor Contemplacion was found guilty as charged and sentenced to death for the murder of Delia Mamaril Maga and Nicholas Huang, in accordance with Section 302 of the Penal Code of Singapore.Justice T.S Sinnathuray remarked that he was "satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt" that the prosecution had proved their case against her. When the death sentence was announced, Contemplacion broke down into tears and was so distraught she had to be supported by two prison officers as she was led from the dock.
On 26 January 1994, defence lawyer Sant Singh raised the defence of diminished responsibility during a hearing at the Court of Appeal in regards to Contemplacion's conviction, stating that the issue of her mental state was never raised during her original trial and new exculpatory evidence had since come to light regarding her psychiatric condition during the murders. An affidavit containing observations from Gleneagles Hospital consultant psychiatrist Doctor Terence Burke, who had studied the case in detail and since examined Contemplacion personally, was requested to be submitted by Singh. The appeal judges thereafter suspended the hearing and ordered that the original trial judge re-open the case and review the new evidence.
On 25 April 1994, Justice T. S. Sinnathuray heard arguments in the High Court regarding Contemplacion's appeal. Taking the stand to give evidence in her own defence, Contemplacion claimed to have suffered from seizures from an early age, which gave her bouts of headaches and uncontrollable shaking. She also claimed that on the day of the murders a mysterious "voice" instructed her to visit Maga at the Bukit Panjang apartment. Contemplacion testified that on the way to the apartment she began to feel strange and started trembling all over. When she got there Maga appeared to be half her normal size and then looked like she was "shrinking". Contemplacion suddenly realised she was gripping an elastic cord that was wrapped around Maga's neck and ran into the bathroom to vomit. There she saw a young boy playing with water and he looked "like a small cat" to her. Contemplacion claimed she could not control herself, and she picked up the child then submerged his head in the bucket of water. Contemplacion asserted that she was suffering from severe psychiatric issues at the time of the killings, and was not guilty of murder but was admitting to manslaughter.
Testimony from Doctor Terence Burke asserted that Contemplacion suffered from a form of epilepsy known as a partial complex seizure, which was a mental illness that significantly impaired her responsibility for her actions on the day in question. Doctor Burke also testified that her low IQ and lack of education meant it was highly unlikely that Contemplacion would have been able to fabricate the symptoms of epilepsy. Deputy Public Prosecutor P.S. Raj argued that Contemplacion was simply suffering from a migraine on the day of the murders, adding that she had been examined previously by the consultant psychiatrist of Changi Prison hospital, Doctor Chan Khim Yew, and was determined to have no abnormality of the mind that would impair her mental reasoning abilities.
DPP Raj also highlighted that Contemplacion had not mentioned hearing voices or having hallucinations in any of her statements to the police after her arrest nor to Doctor Chan Khim Yew during his psychiatric examinations, having first reported these issues during interviews with Doctor Burke after her conviction and only submitting them in her defence during her retrial, which lead the court to consider her claims as fabrications and an exaggeration of a mild headache. DPP Raj further asserted that the evidence of Doctor Chan Khim Yew should take precedence over the testimony of Doctor Burke, as Contemplacion had first been examined by Doctor Chan Khim Yew a month after the murders and he had kept her under observation over 18 months throughout her detention in remand prison, whereas Doctor Burke had only had 4 interviews with her after she had been convicted. Doctor Chan Khim Yew also had years of previous experience on examining patients and then giving evidence on the issue of diminished responsibility, where as Doctor Burke had never testified on a case regarding diminished responsibility before, the DPP added.
After deliberation, the judge rejected Contemplacion's testimony and confirmed her earlier death sentence, ruling that she did not suffer from any serious mental illness at the time of the double homicide, that she only displayed symptoms of a mild migraine, and that she had consciously and deliberately murdered both victims. The court's judgement noted that the comprehensiveness of Contemplacion's actions in the apartment, such as using two different methods to silently kill each victim and locking the youngest child in a bedroom to prevent the sound of her crying alerting any bystanders, coupled with her ability to remember the events of that day in clear detail, proved that she was not suffering from a partial complex seizure during the time of the murders. The fact that both women had argued over the size of the package Maga refused to take with her to the Philippines on Contemplacion's behalf was attributed as a more likely motive for the fatal attack, according to the judge.
Justice T. S. Sinnathuray also highlighted that both Doctor Burke and Doctor Chan Khim Yew had agreed that a person suffering a partial complex seizure would have no recollection of the events that occurred during the episode, where as Contemplacion had given a vivid and detailed step by step account of what happened in Della's flat on the day of the murders, therefore her testimony satisfied him beyond reasonable doubt that she did not suffer from partial complex seizure at that time. The judge likewise dismissed claims that Contemplacion was unintelligent, as having witnessed her nimble performance during cross examination over several days he considered her a wilful and cunning person.
On 19 September 1994, Contemplacion's appeal against her conviction was rejected by Singapore's Court of Criminal Appeal. Defence lawyer Sant Singh argued that while the circumstances of the double murder she was convicted of were not in dispute, the original trial judge had erred in ruling the symptoms described by Contemplacion as a mild migraine rather than temporal lobe epilepsy, which was a core element in her pleading guilty by diminished responsibility. Although Doctor Chan Khim Yew had previously raised the fact that Contemplacion had not exhibited any unusual behaviour to her employers during the 3 years she worked for them, the defence asserted that they would only be able to observe her during evenings and weekends and therefore never had the chance to properly scrutinize her psychological condition. Defence lawyers also stated that Doctor Chan Khim Yew's observations were irrelevant to Contemplacion's mental state on the day of the murders as they took place after the fact.
The Appeal Court judges rejected all defence arguments, highlighting how Doctor Chan Khim Yew had observed Contemplacion's behaviour over 18 months while she was on remand and had ample time to diagnose any psychiatric issues. The court also gave credence to her faultless work history as evidence she was not suffering from any serious illness, as she was trusted to look after young children while living in the same house as her employers, who would have easily spotted Contemplacion having epileptic fits on a near monthly basis as she claimed. The original trial judge was also deemed to have correctly considered the calculated shrewdness of Contemplacion's actions inside the flat on the day of the murders as evidence of a lack of mental abnormality on her part, as well as her alert and quick thinking performance while under cross examination being proof she was in fact a cunning and intelligent person.
Philippines President Fidel V. Ramos wrote to Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong twice, once to grant clemency to Contemplacion and the other to delay execution to evaluate purported new evidence which had surfaced.
In the days leading up to the scheduled execution, Filipina maid Emilia Frenilla, who had previously worked for Huang's uncle, submitted a sworn statement to the Singaporean Embassy in Manila, claiming:
However, after an investigation Singaporean authorities disregarded the new evidence, citing factual errors such as:
Also, the fact that after her arrest Contemplacion revealed to police the location of luxury items she had stolen from Maga provided strong circumstantial evidence that she was linked to the murders.
Shortly after midnight on the morning of the scheduled execution, Filipina citizen Virginia Custodio Parumog, who in 1992 had shared a prison cell with Contemplacion in Changi Prison while serving a custodial sentence for prostitution, returned to Singapore via commercial airline and then attempted to submit an affidavit to Singaporean authorities containing claims such as:
Shortly afterwards, the Ministry of Home Affairs released a communiqué denying all allegations, stating:
Sister Gerard Fernandez (a Good Shepherd nun) accompanied Contemplacion on her final walk to the gallows, where they both sang the hymn Amazing Grace. Sister Gerard later described Contemplacion as being calm and at peace in her final moments.
Just before dawn on the morning of 17 March 1995, Flor Contemplacion was hanged at Changi Prison alongside three men convicted of drug trafficking. Her execution went ahead as scheduled despite a personal plea for clemency from President of the Philippines Fidel Ramos to the Singaporean government.
Many Filipinos believed that Contemplacion was innocent or at least insane, blaming the Singaporean government for a "lack of compassion", and the Philippine government for "not doing enough" to stop the execution. The Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Romulo, and Secretary of Labor and Employment, Nieves Confesor, both resigned as a result of the controversy.
The Philippine Embassy in Singapore in particular was heavily criticised, since it did little to help Contemplacion during the two years she was on remand, apart from delivering food and books to her in prison, and did not even have a consular representative as an observer in court throughout her trial. The former Embassy labour attache Reynaldo Catapang later confirmed that they did not hire a private lawyer to represent Contemplacion and allowed the Singaporean authorities to appoint a public defender instead, nor did they keep any records of the legal proceedings or transcripts of the court case itself.
However, shortly after Contemplacion's execution the Philippines' former consul general in Singapore Elizabeth Buensuceso said that Contemplacion had disregarded the Embassy's warning not to make any admissions to the police until after she got proper legal representation in place. Buensuceso was also quoted by the Manila Chronicle that Contemplacion rejected their legal advice not to sign any confession after her arrest, saying "she was very furious then and kept shouting that she had committed the crime". It was also revealed that Contemplacion was allowed to have at least nine private consultations with Philippine Embassy officials without Singaporean authorities being present, yet she did not withdraw her original confession or change any aspect of her testimony at any of these meetings.
Although President Ramos seemed initially resigned to the execution, he called Contemplacion a heroine. His wife, First Lady Amelita Ramos, went to receive Contemplacion's coffin at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on 19 March. Contemplacion's body was carried from the airport to San Pablo, and thousands of Filipinos lined the route. President Ramos sent a wreath to Contemplacion's wake and offered financial assistance to Contemplacion's four children, who were dependent on their mother's income as a domestic worker, pledging one month of his salary to a scholarship fund. Prelates of the local Catholic Church also condemned the execution.
There were several protests held across the Philippines over Contemplacion's execution, some of which were organized by politicians and labor organizations. Thousands of Singapore flags were burned in the protests. In one of the protests, the mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte, burned a flag of Singapore while leading 1,000 employees of Davao City in protest.
Several threats against Singaporeans and Singapore properties in the Philippines were reported. Singaporean tourists either shortened or canceled their holiday trips in the Philippines in view of their safety. Skilled Singaporean workers working in the Philippines either left the country or were recalled back to Singapore by their companies.
The Alex Boncayao Brigade, a Filipino assassination unit of the Philippine New People's Army, had threatened to kill Filipino officials and diplomats if they fail to stop Contemplacion's execution.
Following the execution, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's planned trip to Manila, which was at the invitation of President Ramos, was postponed. President Ramos recalled the Filipino ambassador to Singapore, and many bilateral exchanges between the countries were cancelled.
The 1995 edition of Anoa-Singa military exercise between the Filipino and Singaporean militaries which is ongoing at that time, abruptly ended when news of Contemplacion's execution occured forcing the Singaporean troops to leave the country.
A Presidential Fact Finding Commission was setup in the Philippines to investigate Contemplacion's case and the findings were submitted to President Ramos on 6 April 1995. In a statement by President Ramos, a protective programme was approved to oversee the welfare of overseas Filipinos with the deployment of government staff, lawyers and doctors to various countries. In response to the findings, the Singapore government rejected the findings but agreed to President Ramos's request to examine Maga's remains by two Singaporean pathologists and three foreign consultants.
The first autopsy done by Singaporean pathologists concluded that Maga died of asphyxia due to strangulation which was disputed by the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation experts. A final autopsy was conducted in July by an independent panel, whose results and would be final, and both governments required to accept the findings. If the findings determined that Maga did not die of asphyxia, the Singapore government will reopen Contemplacion's case and re-investigate the deaths of Maga and Huang. The independent panel ultimately did determine that Maga's cause of death was asphyxia, which the Philippines government accepted. Philippines and Singapore began to reconcile their bilateral relations.
In April 1995, a Presidential Fact Finding Commission was set up by President Ramos to investigate the facts surrounding the death of Delia Maga and the conviction of Flor Contemplacion for her murder. The finished report recommended that the case be reopened, after gathering new testimony, in addition to earlier claims made by Parumog and Frenilla, such as:
The Singaporean government described the findings as "totally absurd" and based on uncorroborated hearsay testimonies of individuals who did not witness the crime itself, and later released its own point by point rebuttal of the findings, such as:
On 20 October 2005, three of Contemplacion's sons, Sandrex and twins Jun-Jun and Joel, were arrested for drug trafficking after a buy-bust sting operation by the San Pablo City police, where an undercover officer bought ₱3,000 worth of methamphetamine from the brothers. On 9 March 2011, all three were sentenced to life in prison and also fined ₱500,000 each for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. In August 2008, Contemplacion's widower Efren and his new partner were arrested in a similar anti-drug operation by the same police force.
On 6 April 2013, Contemplacion's other son, Romulo, was arrested in San Pablo City in connection with the murder of councilman Roland Acbang in Barangay San Crispin, and the attempted murder of Rardine Mercado in Barangay Francisco. A police raid on the Barangay San Diego house that Romulo and three other men were hiding in recovered firearms and hand grenades believed to be linked to the attacks. All four suspects were later charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, with murder charges also expected to be filed against them after police had finished their forensic evidence investigations.
The Flor Contemplacion Story, directed by Joel Lamangan and starring Nora Aunor in the role of Contemplacion, was released by Viva Entertainment and also won Best Picture in the Cairo Film Festival in 1995.
The story of Contemplacion, starring Gina Alajar in the role of Delia Maga, was also featured in another film by Regal Films and Golden Lions Films Productions, Victim No. 1: Delia Maga (Jesus, Pray for Us! : A Massacre In Singapore), directed by Carlo J. Caparas.
In 1995, another documentary film on the incident, was released, titled Bagong Bayani (aka "A New Hero" or "Unsung Heroine"), and directed by Tikoy Aguiluz. It starred Helen Gamboa as Contemplacion and Chanda Romero as Maga.
The case of Flor Contemplacion was also featured in an episode of GMA Network's crime documentary program, Case Unclosed.
The aftermath of Flor Contemplacion's family after her execution was shown on GMA Network's drama anthology series, Magpakailanman, starring Alessandra de Rossi as Flor's daughter Russel, who suffered from a string of unfortunate events after her mother's death including her widower’s drug addiction, the imprisonment of her father and siblings from drugs, and hardships on balancing work and motherhood. The episode was titled “Life After the Death of Flor Contemplacion” and originally aired on 13 April 2013.
In Singapore, the Flor Contemplacion murders was also one of the cases solved by Professor Chao Tzee Cheng, the senior forensic pathologist. It was later re-enacted by the Singaporean crime show Whispers of the Dead in 2014. The perpetrator Flor Contemplacion and her two victims Nicholas Huang and Della Maga had their names changed for dramatic purposes and to protect their identities, although the overall turn of events and trial proceedings remained reminiscent of the real life events.