Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Representative Arlene Brosas and GWP Vice Chairperson Sarah Elago expressed extreme anger at the acquittal of former 1001st Brigade commander B. Gen. Jesus Durante III in the murder case of former businesswoman and model Yvonne Chua Plaza.

They said the military court’s decision sends a terrible message, that even amid much evidence of abuse and impunity within the military, justice remains elusive.

“This is not justice. This is a travesty. The public saw the brutal killing of Yvonne Chua Plaza, the reports that implicated active military officers, and the firearm traced back to the AFP itself. Justice was not only denied to Yvonne—this decision proves that the current system favors those in power,” said Brosas.

Recall that Plaza was shot by two men on board a motorcycle on December 29, 2022, outside her home in Davao City.

The Special Investigation Task Group-Plaza of the Philippine Regional Office-Davao Region, which was formed in 2023, reportedly identified eight suspects in the murder. Durante was the main mastermind. The other suspects were Colonel Michael Licyayo, Staff Sergeant Gilbert Plaza, Corporal Adrian Cachero, Private Class Delfin Sialsa, Corporal Romart Longakit, Corporal Cabal, and Noel Hapitan.

Sialsa eventually admitted having shot Plaza while Cachero drove the motorcycle. They said Durante ordered them to commit the crime.

Based on their investigation, Plaza was killed because she knew sensitive information against Durante and because of jealousy.

A few weeks before she was killed, Plaza posted on her Facebook page that Durante and his wife were villifying her.

“Bgen Jesus Durante III, if you and your wife continue to shame me and do not retract your allegations that I am a drug addict and continue to threaten me, etc., everything that I and my friends hold will explode in your faces. I have a vault of evidence and the real story about this picture, the death of Menandro Villanueva aka Bok, the real story about the death of Chad Booc, etc.” She also posted photos of herself with bruises on her face and said she suffered from Durante’s beatings.

“Yvonne Chua Plaza’s murder case is emblematic of a broader culture of violence and military entitlement. This decision is a statement that women’s lives can be taken without consequence. Just being soldiers don’t hold them accountable. We refuse to accept that,” Elago said.

“Yvonne’s blood is on the hands of a justice system that bends for the powerful and breaks the spirit of the vulnerable. We must stand up—for Yvonne and for all the thousands of women silenced by this system,” Brosas added.

The GWP calls for accountability, not acquittal—justice that serves the victims of violence from the military.