Evid. 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 . 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. When the accused appealed the decision, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the judgement of conviction by the RTC. [2][3] Estrellita Vizconde, 49, suffered thirteen stab wounds; Carmela Vizconde, 19, suffered seventeen stab wounds and had been raped before she was killed; and Anne Marie Jennifer, 6, had nineteen stab wounds. 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. He alleged that he could not forget Webb because Biong had allegedly threatened him, Do not cheat him. a contribution to Human Rights work, Asian Human Rights Commission Suspicions, no matter how strong they are, must never sway judgment. Vizconde massacre. Hubert Webb of Vizconde Massacre Freed- Breaking News - theAsianparent 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. ", Jessica Alfaro: Alfaro's e-mail from abroad read. It would be a serious miscarriage of justice and a demonstration of inequality before the law should jurisprudence not be applied equally. 2. This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 03:37. The Vizconde Massacre | Shows | discovery+ It was Alejo who had positively identified Joel and Lorenzo (delos Santos) during a police line-up. 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. [56] According to De Lima, all the new witnesses passed the polygraph test. No. [48] Other witnesses say Webb was in the Philippines at the time of the murders. Reporters jostled with Vizcondes relatives and friends in his garage, where Fr. When she could not produce the person, Sacaguing continued to press her saying that she might as well assume the role of her informant.. Thus, her testimony could not be admitted. [12] On July 24, 1997, the Supreme Court noted that Tolentino erred when she refused to admit the 132 pieces of evidence presented by the defense, although these were later admitted in court through an order issued by Tolentino.[12][16]. Tolentino also said, the photographs and videotapes purportedly showing Webb in the United States appeared to be tampered. Democrito Barcenas, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City president and regional coordinator of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG): I think that most of the justices are right in their decision. On June 30, 1991, three Vizconde women Estrellita, 49; her 19-year-old daughter, Carmela and the younger Jennifer, 6 were found dead in their home at BF Homes Village in Paraaque. No acquittal has been made as to the two accused, Filart and Ventura, who remain at-large. The SCs decision in acquitting all the accused in the Vizconde case has fundamental contradictions to its earlier decision affirming the guilty verdict of the accused in the Abadilla case. 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. Ho Man Tin, Kowloon The Murder of an Entire Family While Dad Was Abroad for Work 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. Vizconde marks 20th year of murders: Time to move on The massacre and surrounding events were depicted in the 1993 film The Vizconde Massacre Story (God Help Us!) Eh di sana may sweldo ako. I was a barbarian in my college years at the University of the Philippines. Violent Vizconde Massacre | Crimes That Shocked Asia - YouTube 127262 Hubert Webb, et al. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Vizconde said he was optimistic about finding more witnesses.. Appendix: Case analysis: Supreme Court's rulings on Vizconde and [6], Alfaro's testimony coincided with the angle that was being explored by Supt. The film claims to have been based on new evidence from the then-ongoing trial. He also ordered the Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima to study the possibility of giving compensation to Webb and others. Since I was introduced to The STAR readers in the front page, Ill hit the ground running. To support this, Webb presented a Certification issued by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service of August 31, 1995 confirming that his entry into that country was recorded. 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]. Their original conviction was capital punishment but their sentence was modified to life imprisonment when the death penalty was abolished. (Update 6:47 p.m.) The Supreme Court (SC) has cast doubts on the credibility of Jessica Alfaro, the so-called star witness in the gruesome killings of three members of the Vizconde family almost two decades ago. [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. But Villaramas opinion was not considered by the SC in their majority decision. 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." It is time to heal the past. 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". By her account, after a drug session with the group, Webb allegedly had hatched his plan to rape Carmela Vizconde. 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. Knowing this, I cannot but hesitate to swallow everything that Alejo said at the trial. Indeed, the testimony of a single witness, when positive and credible, is sufficient to support a conviction even for murder. Envy aliens who can avoid PH; pity Pinoys who are stuck here. :Isumbongwill make a comeback on PTV-4 on June 12, 2021. While the SC rejected Alfaros testimony being not a credible witness, it held Alejo still a credible witness despite the inconsistencies in his testimony. 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 stand by my story. Fax: +(852) 2698 6367, Copyright 2023 Asian Human Rights Commission. 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". You will regret it.[58][59] Jack, a village security guard who kept records of the village where Webb lived said he saw Hubert Webb during the time of the massacre. 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. Webb was among the nine people convicted by Paranaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274 Presiding Judge Amelita Tolentino in January 2000 for the killings. From there she allegedly saw Lejano and Ventura take a knife from the kitchen drawer, while the rest of the gang acted as lookouts. "[29], The court maintained that for a person to be convicted there should not be "a reasonable, lingering doubt as to his guilt." The fight is not over. [9] They were acquitted by a trial judge in September 1993 for insufficient evidence.[9]. So, some sectors are calling for Eleazars extension until after the May 2022 elections. Based on my findings, I defended Hubert in my column and in my radio and TV programs. Aug 5, 2008. 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. 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." Hong Kong Police assets are often criminals themselves. The public and the media continue to watch as the years go by . The Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us! - sirasa.dixiesewing.com Footnote: This article comprises the text of a statement issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission, AHRC-STM-266-2010, dated 21 December 2010. She also testified that Biong received money at a house that she later learned belonged to then Paraaque Congressman Freddie Webb; the Webb family's maids, Mila Gaviola and Nerissa Rosales, who both testified that Hubert Webb was at home on June 30, 1991. InAbadilla case: Both the RTC and the CA did not apply this test of credibility of a witness before accepting the testimony of Alejo. Carpio testified for the defense during the trial. "[21], In April 2010, the Supreme Court approved DNA testing to be performed on the semen specimen obtained during autopsy from Carmela Vizconde. Apart from Alejo, earlier there was another witness, Merlito Herbas. LIKE me to support Mr. Vizconde [29] The remains of his wife and daughters were also exhumed from their grave at Holy Cross Memorial Park in Quezon City and transferred to his grave. The SC required this test as necessary before a testimony of positive identification could be accepted as credible and with merit. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison. She did not show up at the NBI as a spontaneous witness (only after four years) bothered by her conscience. Anyone can be paid! Connections Followed by The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II - May the Lord Be with Us! 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. 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. The AHRC urges the SC to thoroughly review the pending final appeal of the accused in the Abadilla case. Her mother, Estrellita, 47, and sister, Jennifer, 7, were also killed. She also said that Bing was accosting Ging Rodriguez on why he had to stab and kill a young girl. The Vizconde massacre: Justice not served - BusinessMirror 176864. But the grieving father couldn't distinguish the truth from the lies. Alfaro said Estrellita was killed before Webb began to rape Carmela. 124871, May 13, 2004. Kaya laban lang tayo. The jurisprudence mentioned above that the SC invoked has not been equally applied. June 30, 1991 for a bicycle he bought from a store in Orange County, Los Angeles, California. 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. Herbas and Alejo worked for the Abadillas as security guards. Biong walks free, insists he's innocent | ABS-CBN News The term dirty politics is appropriate for that kind of set-up. But feeling uneasy, she decided to go up to the stockroom near Hubert's room to see what he was doing. [15] The accused alleged that by rejecting 132 of the 142 pieces of evidence, Tolentino had set the tone for their conviction. This site uses cookies. I expected this decision because since the start, I knew that Jessica Alfaro was not entirely telling the truth. 132577 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, 1999, G.R. Of the 15 Justices, 7 voted for acquittal while four dissented and four Justices, including Carpio, did not participate.[27][28]. This was a case that was solved nine years after the murders and then unsolved 10 years later. Secondly, Alfaros quality as a witness and her inconsistent, if not inherently unbelievable, testimony cannot be the positive identification that jurisprudence acknowledges as sufficient. Asuncion, 27, was a constant playmate of Jennifer Vizconde, who was 7 years old when she was killed. 2. Vizconde murders - Wikipedia : Directed by Carlo J. Caparas. 176389 / G.R. The tapes were restored by IBM while being monitored by the National Computer Center. 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). Vizconde massacre case: Back to square one | ABS-CBN News 16:53. [54] He was laid to rest at Manila Memorial Park Sucat on February 17. Hubert and his co-accused were convicted by the Paraaque Regional Trial Court for the crime on June 6, 2000. And while justice seems elusive, life must go on, Vizcondes grandniece Katherine Asuncion said, reading from a family statement. But big offenses, such as rape or attempted rape, should be filed with the police or the prosecutors office. Indeed, if the accused is truly innocent, he can have no other defense but denial and alibi.