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 four-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.
Biography Flor Contemplacion was born in San Pablo in 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.
Background to arrest
On 4 May 1991, Della M. Maga (born on 6 October 1955, in Tarlac), a 35-year-old Filipino migrant 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 four-year-old boy, Nicholas Huang Haoren Wong, 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 Della Maga and Nicholas Huang and then remanded in custody to await trial.
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 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 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 Maga and Huang. However, when called to the stand, Contemplacion opted to remain silent. 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 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.
Verdict On the afternoon of 29 January 1993, Contemplacion was found guilty as charged and sentenced to death for the murder of Della 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.
Appeals 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.
Retrial 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.