No two persons have the same DNA fingerprint, with the exception of identical twins. 132577 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, 1999, G.R. [48] Other witnesses say Webb was in the Philippines at the time of the murders. Vizconde should go after the national government. "[29], The court maintained that for a person to be convicted there should not be "a reasonable, lingering doubt as to his guilt." [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. TV-14. In rejecting questions to Alejos credibility, the SC affirmed the CAs ruling that the credible testimony of a lone witness(es) assumes more weight when there is no showing that he was actuated by improper motive to testify falsely against the accused, as in the case of Freddie Alejo. Given the financial resources and political influence of his family, it was not unlikely that Webb could have traveled back to the Philippines before June 2930, 1991 and then departed for the US again, and returning to the Philippines in October 1992. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday said the government task force re-investigating the 1991 Vizconde massacre case has found another witness and was convincing him to come out in public and Massacre era | PEP.ph 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 . Besides the horror itself, the suspected perpetrators included high-society figures. 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. [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. :Isumbongwill make a comeback on PTV-4 on June 12, 2021. [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. On December 14, 2010, the SC rendered its decision on the appeals of the accused, questioning the guilty verdict by the RTC and the CA. The prosecutors, the RTC and the CA have been made aware of this fact by the defence. The Vizconde massacre - my defining moment | Philstar.com She had been hanging around that agency for sometime as a stool pigeon, one paid for mixing up with criminals and squealing on them. Alfaro could not possibly prove the relationship between Hubert and Carmela, as they were strangers to each other, and Alfaro also could not have possibly identified the other accused because all of them were strangers to her. It was hard to tell which made up the truth and the lies. And while justice seems elusive, life must go on, Vizcondes grandniece Katherine Asuncion said, reading from a family statement. [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. 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. As to the failure to present the forensic evidence and its subsequent loss, the SC held: the semen specimen taken from Carmela cannot possibly lie. The trial began in August 1995 before Paraaque RTC Judge Amelita Tolentino. Several jeepney drivers groups have called for an unprecedented one-week strike next week to demand extension of the deadline for phasing out traditional vehicles and replacing them with modern It will take over 200 years for women to be at par with men, a news report from Davos said. 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. 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. Please try again. 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. Ateneo law professor Alan Paguia: "The order of release is questionable as it appears to be undemocratic. "[29], The court held that security guard Normal E. White, Jr.'s testimony was unreliable. Justo Cabanacan, the security supervisor of the gated community, said that he saw Webb enter the gated community, although he did not record Webb entering in his log book. Firstly, the SC held Alfaro was not a credible witness. All of these had been applied in acquitting the accused in the Vizconde case, which is contradictory to its earlier decision affirming the conviction of the Abadilla Five. Like Herbas, court records had also shown that Alejo has been receiving money and free accommodation from the Abadillas. So, some sectors are calling for Eleazars extension until after the May 2022 elections. They cannot be the bases of conviction as they cannot substitute for the constitutional requirement of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. It was based on the rule of the minority and not the majority as they (the SC justices) had enunciated in Fortich v. Alfaro also said that she bumped into Biong at the Faces Disco in Makati in March 1995 and relayed to her the offer of the group to give her a free ticket to the United States to shut her up. She took advantage of her familiarity with these details to include in her testimony. Vizconde Massacre: The hidden Truth. vs. Raul de Leon et. G/F, 52 Princess Margaret Road Of the 15 Justices, 7 voted for acquittal while four dissented and four Justices, including Carpio, did not participate.[27][28]. Still seeking justice for his family's grim fate, Lauro Vizconde exhausts all resources available to him. Massacre era. Reporters jostled with Vizcondes relatives and friends in his garage, where Fr. The Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us! - sirasa.dixiesewing.com New Vizconde massacre witness found | Inquirer News [55], On June 28, 2011, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said Hubert Webb was in the Philippines when the murders took place. De Lima said it was possible that it was Black Maria who was in the Vizconde home and not Jessica Alfaro, the NBI's star witness during the trial. No. The most significant topic that Ive ever written about and which I personally got involved in was the Vizconde massacre. Hubert argued that the specimen could exonerate him from the charge and support his defence that he did not rape the victim. Former Paraaque City cop Gerardo Biong walked free from the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City after serving a 12-year sentence. The Vizconde Massacre | GMA News Online 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. 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. [8] If, on examination, the DNA of the subject specimen does not belong to Webb, then he did not rape Carmela. Estrellita, Carmela and Jennifer Vizconde. At about 4 a.m. on June 30, 1991, Gaviola woke up and entered the bedrooms to get the Webb's dirty laundry and wash it as part of her job. The Vizconde massacre, dubbed the crime of the 20th century, was my defining moment as a columnist and defender of the oppressed and those. As a host of the program that carries my surname, I and my all-female staff have handled complaints from citizens, concerning abusive or arrogant policemen and other government functionaries. He said that he heard Hubert Webb quarreling with another young looking customer. Since I was introduced to The STAR readers in the front page, Ill hit the ground running. 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 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. Powered by, Appendix: Case analysis: Supreme Courts rulings on Vizconde and Abadilla cases are contradictory, http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm, http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/september2010/182555.htm, http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-FinalAppealPetition.pdf, http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-CAdecision.pdf. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Vizconde said he was optimistic about finding more witnesses.. Kung di ninyo ako pinabayaan, 'di ako magkakaganito. (Fuck you all! The court argued that the cited case has been superseded by Arizona v. Youngblood, "where the U.S. Supreme Court held that due process does not require the State to preserve the semen specimen although it might be useful to the accused unless the latter is able to show bad faith on the part of the prosecution or the police". Webbs son, Hubert Jeffrey, is also the brother of a television host, Pinky, in one of the largest television networks in the country. Di naman ako puwede magtrabaho don (If that's the case, then I should have had a salary. Francisco Kit Hernandez celebrated Mass. Birrer said she had accompanied Biong to the Vizconde house to destroy the evidence and to retrieve Webb's jacket and the murder weapon. Former NBI official Pedro Rivera however dismissed as lies the testimony of Sacaguing saying that Agent Sacaguing had a record of notoriety in the NBI which prompted his transfer to remote places of assignment until his early retirement. Sign up now! They are Lenido Lumanog, Augusto Santos, Senior Police Officer 2 (SPO2) Cesar Fortuna, Rameses de Jesus and Joel de Jesus. The readers will notice soon enough the brevity of each topic. October 1, 1996 Judge Amelita Tolentino of the Paraaque RTC rejected 132 of the defense's 142 pieces of evidence. Secondly, in the Abadilla case the SC held that the defense of alibi is weak, but in the Vizconde case it held that not all denials and alibis should be regarded as fabricated. 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. The Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us! (1993) - IMDb [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. Six months is not enough for him to clean up the Aegean stable that is the PNP. Appendix: Case analysis: Supreme Court's rulings on Vizconde and [53], Lauro Vizconde, family patriarch and the founding president of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, died on February 13, 2016, at the age of 77. Forensic evidence: In Vizconde case it cannot lie, in Abadilla case it is inconclusive. 124871, May 13, 2004. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to indemnify the Vizconde family Php 3 million for the murders. [2][20], The court ruled that the Paraaque RTC was correct in sentencing Webb et al. She cited the testimony of Alex del Toro, husband of Webb's relative, who said he hired Hubert Webb as an employee at his pesticide company in California. It is said that being elected president is a gift from God. "[21], In April 2010, the Supreme Court approved DNA testing to be performed on the semen specimen obtained during autopsy from Carmela Vizconde. 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. She said the same MRT provided data that several Webbs arrived in the country, including Hubert, sometime in October 1992. The prosecution did not present him as their witness during the trial. I can't express enough how sad and unjust today's story. 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). Let the love of God prevail. In their alibis, Joel de Jesus claimed he was driving his passenger tricycle in Fairview, Quezon City the whole day; for SPO2 Cesar Fortuna, he was at Camp Crame (headquarters of the Philippine National Police, PNP) for official business and his presence was also corroborated by two police officials whom he had transacted business with; for Augusto Santos, he was at the Jose Fabella Hospital in Sta. [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. 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. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. 1. Indeed, her superior testified that she volunteered to play the role of a witness in the Vizconde killings when she could not produce a man she promised to the NBI. SC acquits Hubert Webb, 6 others in Vizconde massacre Their claims were corroborated by witnesses who are disinterested parties, their relatives and friends and documentary evidence. De Lima also said seven new witnesses claimed they saw Webb in the country during the months of April, May and June 1991. Therefore, the applications of the SC on evaluating the defence of alibi of the accused have not been equally applied in these two cases. The SC required this test as necessary before a testimony of positive identification could be accepted as credible and with merit. No. Former Paraaque policeman Gerardo Biong was found guilty as an accessory for burning bedsheets and tampering with other evidence in the crime. . The Supreme Court acquitted them on Dec. 14, 2010. The Vizconde Massacre. Like Alejo, Herbas also at first instance identified Joel de Jesus as one of the gunmen during a police line-up but later withdraw his statement in open court. It cannot be coached or allured by a promise of reward or financial support. al, 1995, G.R. Similar to the accused in the Vizconde case, all the accused in the Abadilla case invoked their defence of alibi. 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. [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. With your meaningful insights, help shape the stories that can shape the country. Vizconde massacre timeline | Philstar.com The Vizconde massacre: Justice not served - BusinessMirror MANILA, Philippines - A former policeman who was jailed for allegedly tampering with evidence in the 1991 Vizconde massacre insists he is innocent of any crime after being released from prison Tuesday. After 15 years behind bars, Hubert Webb and 5 others in the Vizconde massacre case (Manila-Philippines) were released from prison on Tuesday. 1. On the contrary, it reopens it. The SC rendered its judgment on the Abadilla case on September 7 and on the Vizconde case on December 14 of this year [2010]. 24, Rule 134, R. On October 1, 1996, Judge Amelita Tolentino admitted only 10 of the 142 pieces of evidence the defense presented. People vs. Bello, G.R. Methinks one year would give Eleazar ample time impose his brand of discipline on one of the most undisciplined police forces in the world. He alleged that he could not forget Webb because Biong had allegedly threatened him, Do not cheat him. The trial of the case having been long concluded, the requirements of the law may have been satisfied, but not the demands of justice. In the said stockroom, there is a small door going to Hubert's room and in that door there is a small opening where she used to see Hubert and his friends sniffing on something. . [4] In the Trial Court (People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et al., G.R. 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". ), 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. 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. 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. 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.
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