I first met Diana Limjoco three years ago. We were doing a story on Imelda Marcos’ jewels seized by the PCGG. While doing research for the story, we chanced upon her website where she had posted pictures of the so-called Romoulietos collection. We contacted her and made arrangements to meet her for an interview in Manila.

The interview turned out to be interesting. She was one of a few who were allowed to take pictures of the fabulous jewels before they were taken in for storage at the Central Bank. But what turned out to be more interesting was our conversation after the interview. While our crew was packing up, our small talk turned to why she had decided to live in the States. After all, she belonged to a privileged family and had no need to find a “better” life abroad.

But in fact, she did.

What she told us next put things in perspective. She decided to leave precisely because she wanted to move away from the memory of a traumatic experience that had shattered her life as a young teenager. People she knew raped her. Men she knew as “Tito,” men known to her family who had threatened to harm her if she spoke a word about her experience.

“Isang Kuwento ng Pag-asa” - June 27, 2007 episode of Probe

Frightened and not knowing any better, she kept quiet about the 48-hour ordeal she was put through. She kept her silence for 40 long years–not even telling her own parents about it. She told us they often wondered why she was behaving the way she did. Diane said they thought it was just a part of being a teenager.

At the time she told us her story, we had asked if she might want to share it on camera. She declined saying she was not prepared to share it on cam. We did not insist. Instead, we assured her that we would wait until she was ready.

It took many years before Diane finally told us she had come to terms with the reality of going public. During our hour-long interview, she was strong and resolute. She did not tell us the names of those who abused her except to say that one had already passed away and that the others were in some way paying for what they had done. She also told me that minutes before meeting me for the interview, her mother read her narrative for the first time and cried.

It was after the interview that she broke down sobbing in the re-assuring embrace of her husband, relieved she said, that after so long, she had finally broken her silence.