Lauro Vizconde on Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the murders of his wife and two daughters at his residence in BF Homes, Paraaque City. [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]. 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. The 47-year-old Estrellita had 13 stab wounds. Im still hoping for a miracle to happen. 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. 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. Violent Vizconde Massacre | Crimes That Shocked Asia - YouTube 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. 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. With your meaningful insights, help shape the stories that can shape the country. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. 2. Suspicions, no matter how strong they are, must never sway judgment. He also claimed to have heard Hubert shout, Putang ina nyo! There was entry of (former senator) Freddie Webb leaving the country in March 1991 but no Hubert Webb, De Lima said. 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. Vizconde massacre. The unconstitutionality of prior restraint. Jennifer Diaz, chief of the women and childrens desk, told Allan to file the complaint with the barangay where they reside. 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. I did that hoping to make them have second thoughts about doing so,.There is no justice in the Philippines. I stood my ground because I had all the facts in my hand. The details of how they were killed were grim. Massacre era | PEP.ph 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. [47], On December 28, 2010, new witnesses have come forward accusing Hubert Webb and others of allegedly being behind the Vizconde massacre. Di naman ako puwede magtrabaho don (If that's the case, then I should have had a salary. Alfaro implicated the children of wealthy and prominent families, including Hubert Webb, Antonio Lejano II, Hospicio Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Peter Estrada, Joey Vffrillaret and Artemio Ventura. For those who havent heard aboutIsumbong, the public service program started at Radyo Veritas on June 1, 1991. I am not an NBI agent nor an NBI asset. SC slams 'unbelievable' testimony of Vizconde massacre witness This is a violation of the duty of state." But Custodio admits this may be easier said than done. It is hard to believe this there is a record of supposed arrival from other country but no record of departure in 1991 or in any month of 1991, she said. I went to the US to check on senator Webbs allegations I paid for my fare and accommodation, by the way and found that, indeed, Hubert was there when the Vizconde women were being butchered at their home in Paraaque. [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]. [9] They were acquitted by a trial judge in September 1993 for insufficient evidence.[9]. No. The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption(VACC) asked Justice Antonio Carpio and his cousin Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales to take a leave while the case is being decided to avoid undue influence on the court's decision. Movie producers and directors rode the wave of public outcry by creating true-to-life films based on such heinous crimes. 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. Her mother, Estrellita, 47, and sister, Jennifer, 7, were also killed. Defence of Alibi: In Vizconde case not admissible, in Abadilla case court acted on conjectures. Tolentino also said, the photographs and videotapes purportedly showing Webb in the United States appeared to be tampered. This column will tackle various topics on the days it will come out: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It held that a positive declaration from a witness that he saw the accused commit the crime should not automatically cancel out the accuseds claim that he did not do it. Alejo confirmed these two (2) as the persons he saw from his guard post walking to and fro before the shooting incident. 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. I would not have ended up like this if you had not neglected me). I was a barbarian in my college years at the University of the Philippines. In rejecting the defence of the accused, the SC also affirmed the conjecture the CA had put forward as to the possibility that the accused could have been present or somewhere at the vicinity where the crime took place, as mentioned below: On Joel de Jesus, it was not impossible for him to have gone also Katipunan Avenue (from Quezon City where he was driving), which is also part of Quezon City, not to mention the fact that with his tricycle, he could have easily moved from one place to another; On Rameses de Jesus and Lenido Lumanog, their claims lack credence as they are unsupported by the testimonies of independent witnesses. As already mentioned, the SC concluded Alfaro to be not a credible witness because she did not meet these two criteria. It was based on the rule of the minority and not the majority as they (the SC justices) had enunciated in Fortich v. 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. 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 public and the media continue to watch as the years go by . But the grieving father couldn't distinguish the truth from the lies. All rights are reserved. No. But big offenses, such as rape or attempted rape, should be filed with the police or the prosecutors office. 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. Vizconde Massacre Case Digest - Philippine True Crime Stories | Martin Rules. 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. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to indemnify the Vizconde family Php 3 million for the murders. 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. [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". 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. The Vizconde massacre - my defining moment | Philstar.com I will be conferring with my lawyers about my future moves.. [25][26], On December 14, 2010, the Supreme Court reversed the earlier judgment of the lower court and Court of Appeals and acquitted seven of the nine accused, including Hubert Webb, finding that the prosecution failed to prove that the accused were guilty beyond reasonable doubt. This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 03:37. 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 . The lower courts, however, reasoned that "Webb's alibi cannot stand against Alfaro's positive identification of him." InAbadilla case: The SC admitted the positive identification of witness Freddie Alejo when it considered him a credible witness. Massacre era. I can't express enough how sad and unjust today's story. References: 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 Villaramas opinion was not considered by the SC in their majority decision. Rey and Jerry claimed they saw Webb playing basketball between the months of June and July 1991 during a league in BF Homes. Hell never return to the Philippines, said the Thai tourist whose cash was filched by Manila airport security personnel. 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. 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. "[29], The court held that security guard Normal E. White, Jr.'s testimony was unreliable. Francisco Kit Hernandez celebrated Mass. [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. 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. Biong walks free, insists he's innocent | ABS-CBN News ), 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. Biong was released from jail on November 30, 2010, after serving his sentence. [61], The findings also point to another set of suspects, namely Dong Villadolid and his brother Bing. 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. 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. June 30, 1991 for a bicycle he bought from a store in Orange County, Los Angeles, California. It took the trial and appeal process in this case fifteen years. 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. 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. Police assets are often criminals themselves. 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. Another accused, Joey Filart also fled to the United States. 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 . 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]. The men were released on Dec. 14 last year, after the Supreme Court dismissed the testimony of star witness Jessica Alfaro against Webb. [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. [2] Tolentino said the certificates issued by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Philippine Bureau of Immigration "could have easily been obtained by the powerful Webb family". 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. al, 1995, G.R. In the Vizconde case, the SC does not accept conjecture as the basis of its decision. The Vizconde Massacre. 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. 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. You are just a few clicks away from making The case was featured on a Philippine TV show Case Unclosed as its ninth episode, "Vizconde Massacre Case. The Vizconde massacre revisited | ABS-CBN News By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. 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. [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. The court rejected his testimony because he was a disgruntled witness. It is said that being elected president is a gift from God. ", Jessica Alfaro: Alfaro's e-mail from abroad read. I incurred the ire of the citizenry, including some of my fellow columnists in theInquirer,for my defense of Hubert. LIKE me to support Mr. Vizconde I will kill you, brandishing a shiny revolver. But in the Abadilla case, not only did the SC affird the CAs ruling in rejecting the defence of alibi, it did not also question the CAs formulation of conjectures on which it based its judgement.
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