(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Vizconde said he was optimistic about finding more witnesses.. al., 2010, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vizconde_murders&oldid=1138122178, Loss of DNA evidence not a ground for outright acquittal. The SCs decision affirming the guilty verdict by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City on the Abadilla Five, the five men accused in the murder of police colonel Rolando Abadilla on June 13, 1996, is already the subject of a final appeal filed on October 8, 2010. I stood my ground because I had all the facts in my hand. After she finished the laundry, she went to the servant's quarters. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. I found this As of yesterday, police had arrested and filed criminal charges against six fraternity members suspected to have beaten to death John Matthew Salilig in a twisted concept ofbrotherhood. The NBI is the agency responsible in providing security and protection of witnesses admitted under WPP. As already mentioned, the SC concluded Alfaro to be not a credible witness because she did not meet these two criteria. [56][62][63][64] Dang claimed to have heard Dong Villadolid shouting at the top of his voice, saying they had raped and killed a certain Maria (presumed to be Maria Carmela Vizconde) and other persons. But I could not work there), Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption chairman. Webb's travel documents and other paper trail of his stay in the US are unreliable proof of his absence in the Philippines at the time of the commission of the crime charged. 185123/G.R. One of the justices, Roberto Abad, who dissented the majority decision affirming the guilty verdict wrote: the public prosecutor chose instead to allow the Abadillas, who had an interest in Alejos testimony, to make him dependent on them for his livelihood at least for the duration of the trial of the case. However, keep in mind not to be vindictive. No. Seven justices based its decision on the following points: Webb, citing Brady v. Maryland, said "that he is entitled to outright acquittal on the ground of violation of his right to due process given the States failure to produce on order of the Court either by negligence or willful suppression the semen specimen taken from Carmela." She also said that Bing was accosting Ging Rodriguez on why he had to stab and kill a young girl. But to Judge Amelita Tolentino of the Paranaque Regional Trial Court, the truth was the account of star witness Jessica Alfaro. Be consoled that the truth will always come out, Hernandez advised Vizconde. For almost two decades, Filipinos have been mystified by the brutal 1991 killing of a mother and her two daughters. The Supreme Court acquitted them on Dec. 14, 2010. The Villadolid brothers were mentioned by a certain Rhoda Pujanes alias Dang, who claimed she overheard Villadolid and his friends, including Miguel Rodriguez and Michael Gatchalian (both co-accused of Webb), talking about the massacre during a pot session in 1991. Indeed, the testimony of a single witness, when positive and credible, is sufficient to support a conviction even for murder. According to Rivera, Sacaguing was never part of the NBI team assigned to investigate the Vizconde massacre and that his former colleague took Alfaro's statement in April 1995 without the presence of a lawyer. Like Herbas, court records had also shown that Alejo has been receiving money and free accommodation from the Abadillas. The story of the Vizconde Massacre wasn't just a single story; it varied as told by a number of witnesses. The court said that Alfaro was not a credible witness and that her "story of what she personally saw must be believable, not inherently contrived". The NBI is a special investigating body attached to the DoJ. 176864), it became one of the most sensational cases in the Philippines, being described as a "trial of the century". The prosecution did not present him as their witness during the trial. This has resulted in the revelation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that they no longer had the specimens as these were remanded to the Paraaque courts. Lauro Vizconde on Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the murders of his wife and two daughters at his residence in BF Homes, Paraaque City. She said that when she entered Hubert's room, she saw him wearing only his pants, awake and smoking in bed. People vs. Bello, G.R. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. due to "overwhelming evidence that showed Webb and the other accused had conspired to rape Carmela and, in the process, kill her and the rest of the family." X' key to real perpetrators of Vizconde murders? Alfaro said that when she went back to the house, she saw the bodies of Estrellita and Jennifer on the bed and Webb raping Carmela on the floor. Alfaro accused Hubert Webb, son of former senator Freddie Webb, as the mastermind of the massacre, along with five other men, all coming from prominent families. The President has time and again said that he was very tired of running the country and, if he had his way, would have stepped down. I became a villain in the eyes of the citizenry that was crying for blood; but I was steadfast. This is one of the most controversial and widely publicised massacre cases because of the involvement of the son of a former Philippine Senator, Freddie Webb; and six others from a wealthy family background similar to that of the accused. No. Envy aliens who can avoid PH; pity Pinoys who are stuck here. Hubert Jeffrey Webb sought for an acquittal after he had found out that the NBI could no longer produce the DNA specimen extracted from the cadaver of the rape victim. vs. People of the Philippines et al., 1997, G.R. Tolentino also said, the photographs and videotapes purportedly showing Webb in the United States appeared to be tampered. Former Paraaque policeman Gerardo Biong was found guilty as an accessory for burning bedsheets and tampering with other evidence in the crime. 124871, May 13, 2004. After the Mass, VACC founding chair Dante Jimenez urged Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against the seven Supreme Court justices who either voted to acquit Webb and coaccused or abstained from voting last December. I incurred the ire of the citizenry, including some of my fellow columnists in theInquirer,for my defense of Hubert. Alfaro said Estrellita was killed before Webb began to rape Carmela. Connections Followed by The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II - May the Lord Be with Us! [60], Although Webb's group can no longer be retried because of double jeopardy, De Lima said the purpose of the reinvestigation was to uncover the truth and bring closure to Lauro Vizconde.[65][66]. But Villaramas opinion was not considered by the SC in their majority decision. The fight is not over. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to indemnify the Vizconde family Php 3 million for the murders. 127262 Hubert Webb, et al. Only minor cases, like oral defamation and quarrel between neighbors, are handled by the barangay. White was mistaken in saying that Gatchalian and company went in and out of the gated community many times, since they only entered once. [citation needed] (The Philippine Rules of Evidence require official attestation of the authenticity of any public document presented in evidence; as per Sec. People cried for justice for the Vizcondes and one of the suspects was Hubert Webb, son of then Paraaque congressman Freddie Webb, who later became a senator. ), Moreover, Judge Tolentino also denied Webb's request to subject semen samples to DNA testing on the belief that the samples may no longer be intact. LYN RILLON. The court also amended the award of damages from 100,000 pesos to 200,000 pesos, and also upheld the conviction of Biong as accessory to the crime "by abusing his public functions to conceal and destroy the physical evidence in order to prevent the discovery of the crime and by allowing the destruction of the physical evidence, Biong facilitated the escape of the principal accused. For there is no law requiring that the testimony of a simple [sic] witness should be corroborated for it to be accorded full faith and credit. [25][26], On December 14, 2010, the Supreme Court reversed the earlier judgment of the lower court and Court of Appeals and acquitted seven of the nine accused, including Hubert Webb, finding that the prosecution failed to prove that the accused were guilty beyond reasonable doubt. [56] According to De Lima, all the new witnesses passed the polygraph test. Defence of Alibi: In Vizconde case not admissible, in Abadilla case court acted on conjectures. After reading about how responsive Secretary Benhur Abalos is to matters raised by the media, some members of the PNP, particularly in the province of Iloilo, have shared through channels about their operational Local producers wont like it, but it looks like in the near future, there will be a flood of imported agricultural commodities. A police officer, Gerardo Biong, has also been charged for destroying the evidence at the crime scene. I will continue to play that role as long as I live. Sources from the Department of Justice said Webb, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court last December, 2010, was in the country during and after the crime happened in . [4] In the Trial Court (People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et al., G.R. Like the accused in the Vizconde case and for any other cases for that matter, the accused in the Abadilla murder case also deserve equal protection of the law. Firstly, like Alfaro, Alejo also received money and free accommodation from the persons who had interest in his testimony. The court also said that it was "possible for Alfaro to lie" on the details of the case. Alejos testimonies in open court were also not consistent to what he had said to the police investigators immediately after the murder. 1. I got involved in the case after Webb told me Hubert, whose name was slowly cropping up in news reports as a prime suspect, was in the United States when the dastardly crime happened. Night of June 2930, 1991 Estrellita, Carmela and Jennifer Vizconde were killed in their Paraaque home; Carmela was found to have been raped. He then hurled the little girl to a wall and started stabbing her. [10] According to the footage of the trial, Alfaro had been able to identify all the defendants by their names. Cruz, Manila accompanying his brother-in-law, Jonas Padel Ayhon, whose wife had just given birth; and Rameses de Jesus and Lenido Lumanog had just left Manila for Mabalacat, Pampanga where they stayed until the evening of June 14. Tel: +(852) 2698 6339 The SC also held that it was possible for Alfaro to know the details about the Vizconde killings because she had prior access to the details that the investigators knew of the case. 176864. . Don't miss out on the latest news and information. 16:53. In the Vizconde case, the SC does not accept conjecture as the basis of its decision. Anyone can be paid! The 3 sets of suspects are: the Barroso Akyat-Bahay gang; the group of construction workers with engineer Danilo Agwas tagged as mastermind; SPO3 Angel Viaje, PO3 Rodolfo Colado, Ruben Pineda; and, the group of Hubert Webb. The public and the media continue to watch as the years go by . Im still hoping for a miracle to happen. [30], In three separate occasions, police authorities mistakenly arrested persons they believed to be suspect Joey Filart: a namesake in August 1995, the same person again in February 2000, and a person from Compostela Valley in March 2000. [65] One team uncovered Black Maria, a woman whom one witness said had told him she was with Webb's group inside the Vizconde home and saw the crime take place. Under the law, prosecutors of a murder case are given 20 years from the time it occurred or the time it was discovered to identify suspects and charge them in court. The court rejected his testimony because he was a disgruntled witness. 24, Rule 134, R. Tolentino also found it hard to believe that Webb was working with a pesticide company because he was asthmatic and allergic to various substances. [22], On October 8, 2010, Webb filed an urgent motion for acquittal. InVizconde case: The SC applied two tests in rejecting the positive identification of Alfaro: firstly, the credibility of a witness; secondly, the testimony should be believable, not inherently contrived. Still seeking justice for his family's grim fate, Lauro Vizconde exhausts all resources available to him. [49], On January 4, 2011, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said suspect Joey Filart was spotted in the United States. The court also said that if Webb was in the U.S. when the crime was committed, the Alfaro's testimony would not hold together: "Without it, the evidence against the others must necessarily fall. Once again, the SCs applications of jurisprudence on the admissibility of forensic evidence in criminal trial have not been equally applied. The prosecution of this case only began in August 10, 1995, four years after the massacre happened, when Jessica Alfaro, an informant working for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), told lawyer Artemio Sacaguing, an official of the NBI, that she knew someone who had the real story behind the Vizconde massacre. Herbas and Alejo worked for the Abadillas as security guards. Her mother, Estrellita, 47, and sister, Jennifer, 7, were also killed. The Vizconde massacre, dubbed the crime of the 20th century, was my defining moment as a columnist and defender of the oppressed and those wrongfully accused. Lauro Vizconde: "Is there still anyone among you who doubts that there is rampant corruption in our government? The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to draw the attention of the Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines to its recent decision on two well-known cases tried in the lower courts; the conviction in the Vizconde Massacre case was overturned while that of the Abadilla murder case was affirmed. :Isumbongwill make a comeback on PTV-4 on June 12, 2021. On the acquittal of Lorenzo delos Santos, the accused whom Alejo had also positively identified, it ruled that his acquittal did not damage Alejos credibility; and his positive identification of the accused. On the night of June 29, 1991, Asuncion was supposed to have a sleepover with Jennifer at the latters home in Paraaque City. It would be a serious miscarriage of justice and a demonstration of inequality before the law should jurisprudence not be applied equally. Jubilation by the citizenry greeted the report of his appointment.