After 15 years behind bars, Hubert Webb and 5 others in the Vizconde massacre case (Manila-Philippines) were released from prison on Tuesday. Hell never return to the Philippines, said the Thai tourist whose cash was filched by Manila airport security personnel. Another accused, Joey Filart also fled to the United States. Knowing this, I cannot but hesitate to swallow everything that Alejo said at the trial. Apart from Alejo, earlier there was another witness, Merlito Herbas. Hopefully, if they will surface, public pressure will snowball and I will finally get the justice I am looking for, he said. Yes, but what can I do (?). [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. Abadilla Case Petition for Review on Certiorario:http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-FinalAppealPetition.pdf 182555/G.R. I expected this decision because since the start, I knew that Jessica Alfaro was not entirely telling the truth. After she finished the laundry, she went to the servant's quarters. Rodolfo Sison, the police investigator originally assigned to the case in 1991. Policewoman Diaz even insulted Allan, saying he had no right to file the attempted rape complaint on behalf of the girl, because he was only the stepfather. Allan (surname intentionally omitted), stepfather of a 16-year-old girl who was nearly raped by a neighbor, went with his daughter to the police station in San Jose, Batangas recently to file a complaint. "I doubt that at this time, physical evidence will be available because a lapse of time has taken place, but that's the only way we can find the true killers." Run after Alfaro Based on my findings, I defended Hubert in my column and in my radio and TV programs. I would not have ended up like this if you had not neglected me). While the SC rejected Alfaros testimony being not a credible witness, it held Alejo still a credible witness despite the inconsistencies in his testimony. Welcome to my maiden column in TheSTAR, now the countrys No. Webb was the prime suspect of the infamous homicide that occurred on June 30, 1991. My program is the originalsumbungan ng bayan sa radyo(roughly, citizens complaint center on radio). 2. I stand by my story. This is despite questions to his credibility for receiving money and enjoying privileges while he was in Abadillas custody and the existence of inconsistencies in his testimonies in open court. 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. Defence of Alibi: In Vizconde case not admissible, in Abadilla case court acted on conjectures. VIZCONDE MASSACRE: After 20 Years | GMA News Online 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. [18], In her decision, Tolentino described the testimony of defense witnesses as full of inconsistencies and biased. When she could not produce the person, Sacaguing continued to press her saying that she might as well assume the role of her informant.. His intention was very, very dubious, he said. Biong walks free, insists he's innocent | ABS-CBN News No. To find out more, please click this link. Footnote: This article comprises the text of a statement issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission, AHRC-STM-266-2010, dated 21 December 2010. But the grieving father couldn't distinguish the truth from the lies. [23] On November 26, 2010, Lauro Vizconde voiced his concern to media about the purported lobbying of Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio for the reversal of the guilty verdict. [12] (Under Philippine law, generally, alibi is the weakest defense, especially where there is direct testimony of an eyewitness, duly corroborated by another. 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. Corona." I got my style of writing when I was a reporter, news writer and newsreader on radio during the pre-martial law era, and as a deskman and feature writer of the Philippines News Agency (PNA). 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. On the contrary, it reopens it. 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". No two persons have the same DNA fingerprint, with the exception of identical twins. The case of the Vizconde Massacre took another direction only after four years, when Jessica Alfaro surfaced and became the case's star witness. No. Alejos testimonies in open court were also not consistent to what he had said to the police investigators immediately after the murder. Early Thursday, Lauro Vizconde went to Holy Cross Memorial Park and laid bouquets of roses on the tombs of his wife and daughters. [57] The witnesses include an electrician, a drug dealer, a couple of neighborhood basketball players, a hairdresser and a village security guard. 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". Nos. InVizconde case: Jessica Alfaros positive identification was rejected because she did not meet the test of a credible witness and that what she personally saw must be believable, not inherently contrived. September 7, 2010http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/september2010/182555.htm Originally, there were seven accused charged in this case. 808 bound for New York and who expressed doubt on whether Hubert Webb was his co-passenger in the trip; NBI medico-legal Dr. Prospero Cabanayan, Belen Dometita and Teofilo Minoza, two of the Vizconde maids; and Manciano Gatmaitan, an engineer. 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. The Murder of an Entire Family While Dad Was Abroad for Work Firstly, in the Vizconde case, the SC still held as credible the corroborating testimonies of the witnesses favouring Hubert Jeffrey who are mostly his relatives and friends in support of his defence of alibi. 24, Rule 134, R. No. 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. With Romeo Vasquez, Elizabeth Oropesa, Robert Arevalo, Tommy Abuel. The Truth about Mendiola Massacre - Philippine True Crime Stories | Martin Rules. 1 newspaper in terms of circulation and readership. This column will tackle various topics on the days it will come out: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. 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 admitted to knowing Webb and company but denied knowledge of the Vizconde massacre, NBI Death Investigation Division head Romulo Asis said. 4. Evid. It was based on the rule of the minority and not the majority as they (the SC justices) had enunciated in Fortich v. Many of the stories in my columns in previous newspapers were complaints from citizens. A lying witness can make as positive an identification as a truthful witness can. CONCLUSION: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by this unequal application of jurisprudence by the SC on the Abadilla murder and the Vizconde massacre. There was only one vital witness for the prosecution, Freddie Alejo. 176864 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et. [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. MANILA, Philippines - Six new witnesses reveal Hubert Webb, son of former Senator Freddie Webb, was in the Philippines when the Vizconde massacre took place on June 1991. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Alfaro, who had "practically lived" at the NBI's offices, would have been able to hear about the details, and gain access to the documents, without difficulty. It cautioned itself from accepting the testimonies of witnesses without applying these tests. The Vizconde Massacre was the multiple homicide of members of the Vizconde family on June 30, 1991 at their residence in BF Homes, Paraaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. Vizconde murders - Wikipedia The public and the media continue to watch as the years go by . [55], On June 28, 2011, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said Hubert Webb was in the Philippines when the murders took place. De Lima also said seven new witnesses claimed they saw Webb in the country during the months of April, May and June 1991. Your subscription could not be saved. 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." In a 38-page strongly-worded decision promulgated on Tuesday, the . Alejo confirmed these two (2) as the persons he saw from his guard post walking to and fro before the shooting incident. Tolentino also found it hard to believe that Webb was working with a pesticide company because he was asthmatic and allergic to various substances. The Vizconde Massacre | GMA News Online 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. February 26, 2021. . (P.S. One of the important pieces of evidence, which I presented to the court later, was the copy of an invoice issued to Hubert Webb on coincidence of coincidences! It cannot be coached or allured by a promise of reward or financial support. The CA held that these ballistic results are inconclusive and can never prevail over appellants positive identification by eyewitness Freddie Alejo. 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. Massacre case in 1991 Webb was accused of raping Carmela Vizconde, 18, who was killed in her family's Paraaque home on June 30, 1991. I will kill you, brandishing a shiny revolver. [10] According to the footage of the trial, Alfaro had been able to identify all the defendants by their names. TRUTH OUT, HEALING BEGINS. In the Philippines in 1992, the Vizconde Massacre, which saw the murder of multiple women who had been stabbed to death, created an investigation full of problems. 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. This contradicted Hubert Webb's claim that he was in the United States from March 9, 1991, to October 27, 1992. The lead suspect was Hubert Webb whose father, Freddie Webb was famous as an actor, former basketball player, and Paraaque congressman at the time of the murders. "[21], In April 2010, the Supreme Court approved DNA testing to be performed on the semen specimen obtained during autopsy from Carmela Vizconde. 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. 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. Birrer said she had accompanied Biong to the Vizconde house to destroy the evidence and to retrieve Webb's jacket and the murder weapon. Vizconde Massacre Case - Pinoy Stories And while justice seems elusive, life must go on, Vizcondes grandniece Katherine Asuncion said, reading from a family statement. [47], On December 28, 2010, new witnesses have come forward accusing Hubert Webb and others of allegedly being behind the Vizconde massacre. 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. Lejano and Ventura also took turns raping Carmela, before finishing her off with numerous stabs. 185123/G.R. Forensic evidence: In Vizconde case it cannot lie, in Abadilla case it is inconclusive. The defense questioned Alfaro's credibility noting that she admitted to being under the influence of drugs when she allegedly witnessed the crime and had made inconsistent statements on her two affidavits. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. It was also not true that there was no showing that he (Alejo) was actuated by improper motive to testify falsely against the accused because the defence had since been challenging his credibility during the trial.