Sitting only a few meters away from each other, Annabelle and Ablaza would made an oddly-matched pair. The girl was frail, dark-eyed, and pale. She had a pretty 
way of tilting her head that showed off her high cheekbones and fine jawline. Yesterday, Colonel Lucero gave her to a beauty parlor treatment which resulted in a becoming upswept hairdo with bangs sweeping her forehead. Ablaza who says he wants her to be his wife was unwashed and unkempt after five days in the stockade of the Bulacan PC in this town. For five days, he had worn the same white shirt, white pants, and slippers. The “tail” of a pink comb stuck through the back pocket of his pants. He sat unmoving through the trial. Occasionally he would stare at Annabelle, his plump baby face impassive.
Hunger and blows
Questioned by Assistant Provincial Fiscal Pascual Kliatchko, Annabelle told how he was dragged into a jeep last Oct. 23,1962 by Lauro Ocampo and “Totoy pulis” Leoncio, with Ablaza at the wheel; how she was threatened with death if she dared to cry for help; how Ablaza took her to the house of a “compadre” in Iba, Hagonoy, Bulacan; how Ablaza tried to abuse her, but failed, on the first night; and how he finally succeeded in overcoming her because of acute hunger and the blows she received. Jugde Reyes ordered all spectators out of the room when the testimony came to the part where she was allegedly attacked. Only lawyers, court personnel, PC guards, and newspapermen were allowed to stay, but the crowd patiently waited outside until they were let in again.
Calm at the beginning of her testimony, Annabelle broke down when she was asked
to narrate the details of the rape. She sobbed repeatedly when questioned about the experience. When defense lawyer Eufrocino Del Rosario badgered her with questions, trying to trip her up, Annabelle would raise her voice in near-hysterical answer. Throughout the hearing, Annabelle showed her dislike of Ablaza. He was a trouble-maker, she said, and never paid for the games he played at the billiard hall she looked after. He and his gang would barge in, stealing the balls, and tearing the felt on the billiard tables. She was slapped, struck and threatened with death when she resisted Ablaza, Annabelle said. The next morning, she woke up to find herself naked. And for breakfast, Ablaza offered cold rice and water. She refused to eat.
Above the sad, sordid swirl of details sat Judge Reyes, as cool and fact-seeking as Spencer Tracy could ever have been in the movie “Judgment of Nuremberg.” He was impatient only at the grammar of court interpreter Avelino Joaquin Jr., who did a yeoman’s job of translating English into Tagalog and vise versa. Joaquin, who has been on the job for only three months, had to do such difficult things as translating Tagalog euphemisms into English euphemisms. Often, he fell prey to the traps laid by the Tagalog language for those who think in it but speak in English.
There was a minor plot in the drama, too. To one side of the courtroom sat advertising executive Lu Ocampo, worried father of Lauro, one of Ablaza’s co-accused. Lauro, 24, just got married last November, and was on a vacation from his job as a photo-engraver when he got involved in the abduction of Annabelle. The other person who, Annabelle said, forced her into Ruben’s jeepney is still at large. Jose “Totoy Pulis” Leoncio is said to be the son of a policeman in
Judge Reyes is determined to get the trial over with. Apparently, so is Annabelle--- this afternoon she refused to take a break after testifying for two hours, saying she wanted to go on with the hearing. It will be a short trial. But already anxious people were asking: What will happen to Annabelle? She is the product of a broken home. She was just three when her parents separated; her brother Elwin was two, and her sister Merle, one year old. The father, Roy Huggins, the son of an American lumberman, has another family in
The three Huggins children were turned over by their father to his childless sister and her husband. They grew up in
"God Knows (Batid ng Diyos)"- 1963/ Stars Annabelle Huggins, Jose Padilla, Jr., Vilma Valera, Johnny Monteiro/ Directed by Larry SantiagoAutomatic review of the decision of the Court of First Instance of Rizal (Criminal Case No. 13526) convicting therein accused Ruben Ablaza for kidnapping and serious illegal detention and sentencing him to the supreme penalty of death with all the accessory penalties set by law.
In an information filed in the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Ruben Ablaza, John Doe and Peter Doe were accused of the crime of kidnapping with serious illegal detention, said to have been committed as follows:
That on or about the 22nd day of March 1963, in the municipality of Makati, province of Rizal, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused being then private individuals, conspiring, and confederating together and mutually helping and aiding one another, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously kidnap, take and carry away and detain one Annabelle Huggins a female, 20 years of age, against her will and consent.
The prosecution, through its lone witness, complainant Annabelle Huggins, tried to establish that in November, 1962 accused Ruben Ablaza forcibly took her from her aunt's place in
On 22 March 1963, and while that case in Bulacan was still pending, Annabelle Huggins, who was sweeping the front of her aunt's house in Makati, Rizal, was again grabbed by two men and forcibly taken to a taxicab where a third man, who turned out to be Ablaza, was waiting. Then the vehicle sped away before anybody could come to the aid of the struggling girl. Inside the cab, Annabelle was seated at the rear between Ablaza and a companion; her head was pressed down to the floor of the taxi, with Ablaza covering her mouth with his hand to prevent her from crying out for help. She was first brought to the house of Ablaza's compadre in
For the defense, only accused Ruben Ablaza took the witness stand, and gave an entirely different version of the incident. According to this accused, in 1962, he and complainant Annabelle Huggins were sweethearts; that as Annabelle was complaining of being maltreated by her aunt, they decided to elope, which they did in November, 1962. He and Annabelle stayed in the house of his uncle in Hagonoy, Bulacan, where they were later found by the police authorities. Thereafter, he was charged for abduction with rape before the Court of First Instance of Bulacan.
Sometime in March, 1963, he received a letter from Annabelle asking him to get her from her aunt's residence in
More on Huggins-Ablaza case
Adonis Abril (1963)- Stars Nestor De Villa, Annabelle Huggins, Tony Cruz, Jr., Vilma Valera/ Directed by Nemesio E. Caravana
Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Daigdig (1963)- Stars Charito Solis, Willie Sotelo, Bert Silva and Annabelle Huggins/ Directed by Pablo Santiago
Siyam na Buhay ni Martin Pusa (1964)- Stars Joseph Estrada,
Contra Cuatro (1964)- Stars Leopoldo Salcedo, Annabelle Huggins,
Ang Manananggol ni Ruben (1963)- Stars Lolita Rodriguez, Rosa Mia, Tony Cayado, Zeny Zabal and Mario Montenegro/ Directed by Eddie Garcia
