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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. 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. On the night of June 29, 1991, Asuncion was supposed to have a sleepover with Jennifer at the latters home in Paraaque City. [2][12] Security guards Justo Cabanacan and Normal White. Hell never return to the Philippines, said the Thai tourist whose cash was filched by Manila airport security personnel. 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. Of the 15 Justices, 7 voted for acquittal while four dissented and four Justices, including Carpio, did not participate.[27][28]. LYN RILLON. We have ruled that accused-appellant may not invoke the acquittal of the other conspirators to merit the reversal of his conviction for murder. 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. Originally, there were seven accused charged in this case. Executive M/Sgt. It held that the acquittal of their co-accused does not necessarily benefit the appellants. February 26, 2021. . They cannot be the bases of conviction as they cannot substitute for the constitutional requirement of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. A second movie, The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II, was released in 1994. The fight is not over. For example, it rejected as not impartial the corroborating testimony of Augusto Santoss brother-in-law that he was at the hospital with him when Abadilla was murdered. The SC rendered its judgment on the Abadilla case on September 7 and on the Vizconde case on December 14 of this year [2010]. The prescription period does not matter to me, its just a date, he said. G.R. She did not know nor met any of them. LIKE me to support Mr. Vizconde [8] If, on examination, the DNA of the subject specimen does not belong to Webb, then he did not rape Carmela. Therefore, the SCs rejection of Villamaras opinion demonstrates a fundamental contradiction to its September 7 decision on the Abadilla case. About the Show; You May Also Like . It was Alejo who had positively identified Joel and Lorenzo (delos Santos) during a police line-up. While the SC rejected Alfaros testimony being not a credible witness, it held Alejo still a credible witness despite the inconsistencies in his testimony. Webb wanted Alfaro, the then-girlfriend of one of the accused men, Peter Estrada, to join them because Estrellita Vizconde only allowed her daughter to go out and entertain female visitors. Vizconde said his quest for justice was continuing despite the end of the prescription period for the prosecution of his familys killers. Alfaro said Estrellita was killed before Webb began to rape Carmela. 187745. The jurisprudence mentioned above that the SC invoked has not been equally applied. The case was featured on a Philippine TV show Case Unclosed as its ninth episode, "Vizconde Massacre Case. Justice Villarama argued that a photocopy of Webbs passport in court to support his alibi and the testimonies of witnesses, mostly his relatives and friends, could not be given merit, by cautioning his fellow justices that it can be gleaned from the fact that passports and plane tickets indicating dates of arrival and departure do not necessarily prove that the very same person actually took the flight and added that indeed, alibi cannot be sustained where it is not only without credible corroboration, but also where it does not, on its face, demonstrate the physical impossibility of the accuseds presence at the place and time of the commission of the crime. 121234 Hubert Webb et al. In this case, the existence of an earlier negative report on the NIIS record on file concerning the entry of appellant Webb into and his exit from the US on March 9, 1991, and October 26, 1992, respectively, had raised serious doubt on the veracity and accuracy of the subsequently issued second certification dated August 31, 1995 which is based merely on a computer print-out of his alleged entry on March 9, 1991, and departure on October 26, 1992. Two of the accused have also been acquitted by the RTC on the basis of their defence of alibis. Im still hoping for a miracle to happen. Alfaro had testified that she knew the suspects and was at the Vizconde house when the crime was committed. No. Police assets are often criminals themselves. Sign up now! In the Vizconde case, the SC does not accept conjecture as the basis of its decision. 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. 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. By providing an email address. 176864), it became one of the most sensational cases in the Philippines, being described as a "trial of the century". [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". The Vizconde massacre has been dubbed as the trial of the century as the accused hailed from prominent families of the Philippines. Suspicions, no matter how strong they are, must never sway judgment. Conjectures and suspicions are not facts, hence, they have no evidentiary value. Thus, her testimony could not be admitted. The Vizconde massacre made headlines in the Philippines in the '90s and started a trend in filmmaking. Abadilla Case Petition for Review on Certiorario:http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-FinalAppealPetition.pdf Call 896 6000. In open court, he already said there were six, not four assailants; that it was two other gunmen, not one of the four present close to the car who pointed the gun at him; and he was not nervous but rather had the opportunity to see the faces of all the assailants facing him all at the same time. To find out more, please click this link. 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. Night of June 2930, 1991 Estrellita, Carmela and Jennifer Vizconde were killed in their Paraaque home; Carmela was found to have been raped. vs. People of the Philippines et al., 1997, G.R. Pray to them. 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. Ateneo law professor Alan Paguia: "The order of release is questionable as it appears to be undemocratic. [2] Two of the accused remain fugitives from the law: Joey Filart and Artemio Ventura. De Lima also said seven new witnesses claimed they saw Webb in the country during the months of April, May and June 1991. The people urging President Rodrigo Digong Duterte to run for vice president in the 2022 elections are making fun of him. He adds, this Court takes judicial notice of reported irregularities and tampering of passports in the years prior to the recent issuance by the Department of Foreign Affairs(DFA) of machine-readable passports. TRUTH OUT, HEALING BEGINS. The tapes were restored by IBM while being monitored by the National Computer Center. Reporters jostled with Vizcondes relatives and friends in his garage, where Fr. InAbadilla case: The SC admitted the positive identification of witness Freddie Alejo when it considered him 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. [4] In the Trial Court (People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et al., G.R. 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. 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. But in the Abadilla case, the relatives and friends are not an impartial witness to corroborate the defence of alibi of the accused. The CA in effect crafted and formulated the conjectures giving them the appreciation similar to facts offered as evidence where it had based the judgment. Alejo had been under the Abadillas custody and protection instead of that of the WPP of the government. Theyre projecting Digong as a feeble old man still seeking power. White was mistaken in saying that Gatchalian and company went in and out of the gated community many times, since they only entered once. References: But big offenses, such as rape or attempted rape, should be filed with the police or the prosecutors office. Movie producers and directors rode the wave of public outcry by creating true-to-life films based on such heinous crimes. June 14, 1993 - Vizconde Massacre solved; 'brains,' three others fall Police finish investigation of the Vizconde case with the arrest of the suspected mastermind and three other suspects,. 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. 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. I will continue to play that role as long as I live. TV-14. [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]. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. The Supreme Court acquitted them on Dec. 14, 2010. 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 Jessica Alfaro Story in 1995 was meanwhile focused on the star witness, portrayed by Alice Dixson. [52] On June 14, 2011, Hubert Webb filed a P180,000 compensation claim for "unlawful conviction" for the Vizconde massacre. 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. [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.