With the exception of Filart and Ventura who had been convicted in absentia the men were acquitted by the Supreme Court on December 14, 2010 for failure of the prosecution to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Estrellita, Carmela and Jennifer Vizconde. Abadilla Case Petition for Review on Certiorario:http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-FinalAppealPetition.pdf Unreliability of Jessica Alfaro's testimony: Alfaro had prior knowledge on the facts of the case having been an, Alfaro was not able to explain why the house was ransacked if robbery was not the motive of Webb and his group, Unreliability of testimony from other witnesses, Alfaro's testimony will fall apart if Webb was not at the crime scene and will relieve the others accused of the crime. 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. [8] If, on examination, the DNA of the subject specimen does not belong to Webb, then he did not rape Carmela. Among the defense witnesses was Artemio Sacaguing, a former, now deceased NBI official who testified that Alfaro was an NBI asset who only volunteered to assume the role of the eyewitness when she could not produce the actual witness to the Vizconde killings. She said the same MRT provided data that several Webbs arrived in the country, including Hubert, sometime in October 1992. Youd be surprised who the people are behind the call for his extension; some of them are top politicians. Hello friends! But both the RTC and the CA rejected his defence ruling that his alibi cannot stand against Alfaros positive identification of him as the rapist and killer. To find out more, please click this link. [57] The witnesses include an electrician, a drug dealer, a couple of neighborhood basketball players, a hairdresser and a village security guard. Francisco Kit Hernandez celebrated Mass. [6][7][8] The suspects said they were tortured and forced to confess to the crime before they were presented by Filart to the media. At the end of February, the Bureau of Fire Protection held a parade featuring some of its trucks and equipment as well as new regular personnel: women firefighters. De Lima said the evidence that showed Webb and any of the co-accused were in the country came from the magnetic reel tape (MRT) of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) where all records of incoming and outgoing passengers from the Philippines are recorded. No. At any rate, Rameses de Jesus admitted that they were using the new car of Lenido Lumanog. It strictly laid down these as the least requirement in evaluating the credibility of the claim of positive identification. 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[29], In his dissenting opinion, Justice Villarama argued that the claim of Webb that he could not have committed the crime because he left for the United States on March 9, 1991, and returned to the Philippines only on October 26, 1992, was correctly rejected by the Regional Trial Court and Court of Appeals. Similar to the accused in the Vizconde case, all the accused in the Abadilla case invoked their defence of alibi. The SC acquitted all the accused, reversing and dismissing the guilty verdict of the RTC and the CA. The court ruled that Alfaro was "a stool pigeon, one who earned her living by fraternizing with criminals so she could squeal on them to her NBI handlers." She added that suspect Miguel Rodriguez warned her to "shut up or you're gonna get killed" in the same disco on April 8, 1995, prompting her to voluntarily submit herself to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for protection. Firstly, like Alfaro, Alejo also received money and free accommodation from the persons who had interest in his testimony. Secondly, the SC affirmed the CAs assertion that Alejo was a credible witness ignoring the questions to his credibility by arguing that: positive and unequivocal declaration is sufficient to support a conviction for murder against appellants. This column will tackle various topics on the days it will come out: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Vizconde said he was optimistic about finding more witnesses.. That's all crap! [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. Many of the stories in my columns in previous newspapers were complaints from citizens. She took advantage of her familiarity with these details to include in her testimony. Hopefully, if they will surface, public pressure will snowball and I will finally get the justice I am looking for, he said. Herbas and Alejo worked for the Abadillas as security guards. After 15 years behind bars, Hubert Webb and 5 others in the Vizconde massacre case (Manila-Philippines) were released from prison on Tuesday. Once again, the SCs applications of jurisprudence on the admissibility of forensic evidence in criminal trial have not been equally applied. The SC identified the inconsistencies and the incredible facts in Alfaros testimony: her claim that Hubert Jeffrey Webb and Carmela Vizconde had a relationship; that Carmela had another lover whom she met just before Hubert came to her home and that she saw in open the five other accused taking turns in raping Carmela. [19], The Court of Appeals' Third Division voted 32 to deny Webb's motion for reconsideration and upheld the ruling of Judge Tolentino on December 16, 2005. Be consoled that the truth will always come out, Hernandez advised Vizconde. The Vizconde murders remained unsolved for almost four years, until eyewitness Jessica Alfaro, a self-confessed former drug addict, came forward on April 28, 1995, to shed light on the massacre. Lejano and Ventura also took turns raping Carmela, before finishing her off with numerous stabs. They were victims of gory murder; Carmela was raped before she was killed. I am not an NBI agent nor an NBI asset. Shades of what happened in the 2004 elections, when a national official was paid a huge sum to run under a political party. [165] The discrepancies between a sworn statement and testimony in court do not outrightly justify the acquittal of an accused,[166] as testimonial evidence carries more weight than an affidavit. Lauro Vizconde the husband of Estrellita and father of Carmela and Jennifer, was in the United State on business when the murders took place. In a decision dated January 6, 2000, Paraaque Regional Trial Court Judge Amelita Tolentino convicted Webb and the co . I became a villain in the eyes of the citizenry that was crying for blood; but I was steadfast. [11], The defense produced documents and presented 95 witnesses, including Hubert Webb himself and his father, along with other relatives and friends to support Webb's alibi that he was in the United States from March 9, 1991, to October 26, 1992. [51] On March 18, Hubert Webb filed a lawsuit against Jessica Alfaro for false testimony at the Paraaque Prosecutor's Office. As already mentioned, the SC concluded Alfaro to be not a credible witness because she did not meet these two criteria. Webb's testimony was also contradicted by other US-based defense witnesses who said they usually saw him "going to the beach, malling, bar-hopping or playing basketball. No. 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 Vizconde murder case, colloquially known as the Vizconde massacre, was the multiple homicide of members of the Vizconde family on June 30, 1991 at their residence at 80 Vinzons Street, BF Homes, Paraaque, Metro Manila, Philippines.Estrellita Vizconde, 49, suffered thirteen stab wounds; Maria Carmela Vizconde, 19, suffered seventeen stab wounds and had been raped before she was killed . Manila Times Special Report on the Vizconde Case, G.R. Executive M/Sgt. Vizconde massacre. 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. The court also said the same for the issue of the garage light: she claimed that Ventura climbed the car's hood, using a chair, to turn the light off. Rey and Jerry claimed they saw Webb playing basketball between the months of June and July 1991 during a league in BF Homes. [47], On December 28, 2010, new witnesses have come forward accusing Hubert Webb and others of allegedly being behind the Vizconde massacre. References: Needless to say, were unpopular with the PNP and other government agencies that citizens transact business with. VIZCONDE MASSACRE: 20 YEARS, TWO FACES OF JUSTICE Report by Maki Pulido It is one of the most controversial cases in the country's history, the most shocking crime in the 90s - the Vizconde Massacre. It defended the attack on Alejos credibility, for example, his inconsistencies on the number of gunmen, arguing that this had already been explained by Alejo during cross-examination by correcting his earlier statement and that the affidavits, being ex-parte, are almost always incomplete and often inaccurate, but do not really detract from the credibility of witnesses. It cautioned itself from accepting the testimonies of witnesses without applying these tests. December 14, 2010:http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm It was hard to tell which made up the truth and the lies. Alfaro, upon explaining on how the house was ransacked, (the Paraaque police had earlier blamed house robbers as suspects), said that Ventura was looking for the front-door key and the car key. The Jessica Alfaro Story in 1995 was meanwhile focused on the star witness, portrayed by Alice Dixson. The trial began in August 1995 before Paraaque RTC Judge Amelita Tolentino. However, the court pointed out that while Webb or his parents may be able to "arrange for the local immigration to put a March 9, 1991 departure stamp on his passport and an October 27, 1992 arrival stamp", they could not fix a foreign airlines passenger manifest, and the U.S. Immigration's record system. Three days after that, he was allegedly approached by Mrs. Webb who reportedly told him, You did not see anything. A week after, Sen. Freddie Webb allegedly told him, You did not see anything. This was how Lauro Vizcondes relatives summed it up on Thursday night after a Mass marking the 20th anniversary of the death of his wife Estrellita and daughters Carmela and Jennifer. The jurisprudence mentioned above that the SC invoked has not been equally applied. Guillermo Lorenzo Guilor Eleazar, recently appointed chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), bows out on Nov. 13 this year when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. Conjectures and suspicions are not facts, hence, they have no evidentiary value. [61], The findings also point to another set of suspects, namely Dong Villadolid and his brother Bing. [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]. Tel: +(852) 2698 6339 For example, the prosecutor, instead of admitting Alejo to the WPP during trial, rather 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. [3], The Inter-Agency Task Force assigned to reinvestigate Vizconde massacre case formed 6 teams or 3 parallel teams to look into 3 sets of suspects linked to the murders. They cannot be the bases of conviction as they cannot substitute for the constitutional requirement of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. "[29], The court held that security guard Normal E. White, Jr.'s testimony was unreliable. On January 4, 2000, the Regional Trial Court of Paranaque City rendered its judgement finding all the accused guilty as charged imposing a penalty of life imprisonment. The court noted the inconsistency between Alfaro's testimony of Webb being Carmela's boyfriend, who had no reason in breaking the glass panel of the house's front door to enter the house; Alfaro said that Webb "picked up some stone and, out of the blue, hurled it at the glass-paneled front door". About the Show; You May Also Like . So, some sectors are calling for Eleazars extension until after the May 2022 elections. They are Lenido Lumanog, Augusto Santos, Senior Police Officer 2 (SPO2) Cesar Fortuna, Rameses de Jesus and Joel de Jesus. 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. The tapes were restored by IBM while being monitored by the National Computer Center. God does not teach us to retaliate. A news report on Thursday in Business Mirror that headlined Senate grills defense brass on plans for EDCA expansion, sites raised much curiosity for its sheer lack of detailed information. I stand by my story. Hubert and his co-accused were convicted by the Paraaque Regional Trial Court for the crime on June 6, 2000. The court rejected his testimony because he was a disgruntled witness. Thus the SC decision on the Vizconde massacre is flawed, Paguia averred, citing a portion of Fortich v. Corona, 312 SCRA 751, at 758 where the SC itself ruled that unless the minimum number of EIGHT votes for a majority is attained there is no decision to speak of, therefore the release order of the Webb group should not have been signed. G/F, 52 Princess Margaret Road I can't express enough how sad and unjust today's story. [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. Only minor cases, like oral defamation and quarrel between neighbors, are handled by the barangay. She observed Hubert was quite irritated, uneasy, and walked to and fro inside his room. Lorenzo delos Santos was acquitted due to lack of evidence, but the RTC, the CA and the SC ignored that fact that the same positive identification it invoked in convicting the Abadilla Five came from exactly the same testimonies that have been used to acquit Delos Santos. 132577 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, 1999, G.R. It is said that being elected president is a gift from God. Sulu in the eyes of my good friend Princess Jacel Kiram is a potential eco-tourism destination and fruit basket of the country. There was entry of (former senator) Freddie Webb leaving the country in March 1991 but no Hubert Webb, De Lima said. Hence, it was not physically impossible for them to travel to Quezon City via the North Expressway at the time the crime took place; On Augusto Santos, the corroboration of his brother-in-law, Jonas Padel Ayhon, that he was at the Jose Fabella Hospital when the crime happened, the CA rejected his corroboration because he was not an impartial witness and ruled that where nothing supports the alibi than the testimony of a relative, it deserves scant consideration. [29], The court also held that the testimony of the Webb's maid, Mila Gaviola, was also unreliable since she was not able to distinguish if it was Hubert whom she saw on June 30, 1991, nor "did she remember any of the details that happened in the household on the other days". Herbas had testified for the defence instead of the prosecution when the Abadilla did not fulfil his promise to give him (Herbas) exactly the same salary he was receiving and when he was told that he would no longer be presented as witness because the testimony of Alejo would be sufficient. Vizconde Massacre: The hidden Truth. [24] This was categorically denied by the Supreme Court as Justice Carpio had in fact recused himself from the case and was not going to take part in the deliberation. Im still hoping for a miracle to happen. The majority of the justices also rejected as conjecture the argument of one of the dissenting justices, Martin Villarama Jr., that it would not have been impossible during the interregnum for Webb to travel back to the country and again fly to the US several times considering that the travel time on board an airline from the Philippines to San Francisco, and from San Francisco to the Philippines takes only about twelve (12) to fourteen (14) hours. All of us who have cases in court, dont we realize that if your opponent has money, brace yourself. 24, Rule 134, R. [2] Two of the accused remain fugitives from the law: Joey Filart and Artemio Ventura. 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. The public and the media continue to watch as the years go by . [6], Alfaro's testimony coincided with the angle that was being explored by Supt. [2][12] Security guards Justo Cabanacan and Normal White. There was only one vital witness for the prosecution, Freddie Alejo. This site uses cookies. I incurred the ire of the citizenry, including some of my fellow columnists in theInquirer,for my defense of Hubert. Among those present were former Vice President Teofisto Guingona; Arsenio Boy Evangelista, father of carjack victim Venson Evangelista; Dacer-Corbito witness Cezar Mancao and his lawyer Ferdinand Topacio; and members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC). I told my family that I did my best. The court said the "portion of Alfaro's story appears tortured to accommodate the physical evidence of the ransacked house" adding that "it is a story made to fit in with the crime scene although robbery was supposedly not the reason Webb and his companions entered that house". Aug 5, 2008. The people urging President Rodrigo Digong Duterte to run for vice president in the 2022 elections are making fun of him. Her mother, Estrellita, 47, and sister, Jennifer, 7, were also killed. The Vizconde murders remained unsolved for almost four years, until 1995 when eyewitness Jessica Alfaro, a self-confessed drug addict, came forward on April 28, 1995, to shed light on the massacre. Firstly, the SC held Alfaro was not a credible witness. Alejo had been under the Abadillas custody and protection instead of that of the WPP of the government. 2. 176389 / G.R. (P.S. He and six others spent 15 years in jail. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. ), 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. Vizconde should go after the national government. Nos. [22], On October 8, 2010, Webb filed an urgent motion for acquittal. No. Ho Man Tin, Kowloon Estrellita, 47, had suffered thirteen stab wounds; Carmela, 18, had suffered seventeen stab wounds and had been raped before she was killed; and Jennifer, 7, had nineteen stab . 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." Like Herbas, court records had also shown that Alejo has been receiving money and free accommodation from the Abadillas. [11], Alfaro's testimony was corroborated by other witnesses including: Lolita Birrer, a former live-in partner of policeman Gerardo Biong, who narrated the manner of how Biong investigated and tried to cover up the crime. The Vizconde massacre made headlines in the Philippines in the '90s and started a trend in filmmaking. White, on the other hand, said he saw the three cars enter the subdivision on the night of June 29, as Alfaro had testified; White also testified that policeman Gerardo Biong was the first to arrive at the crime scene. But big offenses, such as rape or attempted rape, should be filed with the police or the prosecutors office. His intention was very, very dubious, he said. VIZCONDE MASSACRE CASE: This case is about the gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman, the murder of her 7-year-old sister and their mother on June 30, 1991 at their home in Paranaque City, Metro Manila. Based on the infamous and seemingly never ending 1991 Vizconde murder case in the Philippines where a woman and her two children; a teen daughter who was also raped and a 6-year-old, were all viciously stabbed to death while the husband was away in America on business. Knowing this, I cannot but hesitate to swallow everything that Alejo said at the trial. Therefore, the SCs rejection of Villamaras opinion demonstrates a fundamental contradiction to its September 7 decision on the Abadilla case. People vs. Bello, G.R. ABADILLA MURDER CASE: This case is about the murder of Rolando Abadilla, a police colonel during Marcos regime, at 8:30 on June 13, 1996 at the Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City. On SPO2 Cesar Fortuna, the RTC, the CA and the SC, accepted the fact that he was at Camp Crame, but the SC affirmed the RTC and the CAs conjecture that it was not impossible for him to have gone to Katipunan road, Blue Ridge, which is relatively near Camp Crame when the shooting happened around 8.40 in the morning. No. God would be stupid to borrow Digongs words if He gifts him the vice presidency the second time around. The politician would only be allowed by the spouse to run if the party that this politician will join can come up with a big amount for their family. Pray to them. "[29], The court maintained that for a person to be convicted there should not be "a reasonable, lingering doubt as to his guilt." The lower courts, however, reasoned that "Webb's alibi cannot stand against Alfaro's positive identification of him." Forensic evidence: In Vizconde case it cannot lie, in Abadilla case it is inconclusive. [56] According to De Lima, all the new witnesses passed the polygraph test. A second movie, The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II May The Lord Be With Us, was released in 1994 and starred Vina Morales as Carmela and Joko Daz as an assailant. 187745. No. [2] Lauro Vizconde, Estrellita's husband and the father of Carmela and Jennifer, was in the United States on business when the murders took place. [55], On June 28, 2011, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said Hubert Webb was in the Philippines when the murders took place. The SC required this test as necessary before a testimony of positive identification could be accepted as credible and with merit. But the grieving father couldn't distinguish the truth from the lies. Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. De Lima also said seven new witnesses claimed they saw Webb in the country during the months of April, May and June 1991. [12] (Under Philippine law, generally, alibi is the weakest defense, especially where there is direct testimony of an eyewitness, duly corroborated by another. Besides the horror itself, the suspected perpetrators included high-society figures. 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." For those who havent heard aboutIsumbong, the public service program started at Radyo Veritas on June 1, 1991. 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. 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. The women were found dead with multiple stab wounds and no witnesses, murder weapons or motive have been uncovered. Rodolfo Sison, the police investigator originally assigned to the case in 1991. 150 likes. ), Among evidence that was not admitted by Judge Tolentino, was the note verbale from the United States Embassy in Manila claiming that Webb entered the United States in March 1991 and left in October 1992. While the SC rejected Alfaros testimony being not a credible witness, it held Alejo still a credible witness despite the inconsistencies in his testimony. The Vizconde massacre, dubbed the crime of the 20th century, was my defining moment as a columnist and defender of the oppressed and those. Alfaro testified that as Webb followed Carmela into the dining room, she decided to step outside for a smoke. The ballistic test results also did not match to any of the firearms supposedly taken from the accused to the empty shells that were recovered at the crime scene. This coincided with his passport and Philippine Immigration records but were dismissed by Tolentino due to belief that these documents can possibly be falsified. Vizconde is clinging to the hope that even if this period ended Thursday, more concerned citizens will approach the National Bureau of Investigation to corroborate claims made by new witnesses that Webb was seen in BF Homes, Paraaque City, at the time of the murders. No. De Lima said they could still go after Filart and Ventura, as well as the Villadolid brothers, since the prescriptive period of 20 years for homicide does not apply to them because they were abroad. The Vizconde massacre has been dubbed as the trial of the century as the accused hailed from prominent families of the Philippines. [60] De Lima believed Dong Villadolid is the same person as Dong Ventura, one of the co-accused who fled to the US following the massacre. Originally, there were seven accused charged in this case. 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. 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. This is one of the most controversial and widely publicised massacre cases because of the involvement of the son of a former Philippine . The trial of the case having been long concluded, the requirements of the law may have been satisfied, but not the demands of justice. And while justice seems elusive, life must go on, Vizcondes grandniece Katherine Asuncion said, reading from a family statement. Movie producers and directors rode the wave of public outcry by creating true-to-life films based on such heinous crimes. The High Court put to question the quality of the testamentary evidence furnished by the witnesses. The court considered the accused's "lack of interest in having such test done" in which they concluded that the state "cannot be deemed put on reasonable notice that it would be required to produce the semen specimen at some future time".[29]. But to Judge Amelita Tolentino of the Paranaque Regional Trial Court, the truth was the account of star witness Jessica Alfaro. Thus, it was not surprising for Alfaro to testify with great details in court. Evid. On April this year, the Webbs filed an urgent motion to acquit when they found out that the NBI no longer has custody of the specimen that was taken from the body of the rape victim, Carmela Visconde. All rights are reserved. 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.
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