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." This site uses cookies. Aug 5, 2008. 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 Birrer said she had accompanied Biong to the Vizconde house to destroy the evidence and to retrieve Webb's jacket and the murder weapon. 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. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to indemnify the Vizconde family Php 3 million for the murders. 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. The NBI is a special investigating body attached to the DoJ. He and six others spent 15 years in jail. No. Suspicions, no matter how strong they are, must never sway judgment. The Villadolid brothers were mentioned by a certain Rhoda Pujanes alias Dang, who claimed she overheard Villadolid and his friends, including Miguel Rodriguez and Michael Gatchalian (both co-accused of Webb), talking about the massacre during a pot session in 1991. De Lima said they could still go after Filart and Ventura, as well as the Villadolid brothers, since the prescriptive period of 20 years for homicide does not apply to them because they were abroad. Herbas and Alejo worked for the Abadillas as security guards. The Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us! (1993) Pinoy murders: The worst true crimes in the Philippines 176864. 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. Vizconde murders - Wikipedia June 30, 1991 for a bicycle he bought from a store in Orange County, Los Angeles, California. The SC also held that it was possible for Alfaro to know the details about the Vizconde killings because she had prior access to the details that the investigators knew of the case. Hopefully, if they will surface, public pressure will snowball and I will finally get the justice I am looking for, he said. He then hurled the little girl to a wall and started stabbing her. al, 1995, G.R. 185123/G.R. 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. Nine years later, still no clarity on EDCA sites. Based on the infamous and seemingly never ending 1991 Vizconde murder case in the Philippines where a woman and her two children; a teen daughter who was also raped and a 6-year-old, were all viciously stabbed to death while the husband was away in America on business. Violent Vizconde Massacre | Crimes That Shocked Asia - YouTube 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. According to Rivera, Sacaguing was never part of the NBI team assigned to investigate the Vizconde massacre and that his former colleague took Alfaro's statement in April 1995 without the presence of a lawyer. 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. The SC, however, upheld the RTC and the CAs judgement that the defence of alibi of the accused is a weak defense, (and that) for it to prosper, the accused must prove not only that he was at some other place at the time of the commission of the crime, but also, that it was physically impossible for him to be or within its immediate vicinity. The filming location took place in the actual home of the Vizconde's where the massacre took place on June 30, 1991. Kung di ninyo ako pinabayaan, 'di ako magkakaganito. (Fuck you all! 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. 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. Nephews had posted a banner declaring "Truth prevails 20 years after" and demanding "Final justice for the Vizconde massacre victims," in apparent reference to government probers' claims . The passing away of Lauro Vizconde a few days ago does not close the sad chapter on the tragedy known as the Vizconde massacre. 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. 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. The court rejected his testimony because he was a disgruntled witness. [54] He was laid to rest at Manila Memorial Park Sucat on February 17. 176389 / G.R. 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. As already mentioned, the SC concluded Alfaro to be not a credible witness because she did not meet these two criteria. His intention was very, very dubious, he said. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. She observed Hubert was quite irritated, uneasy, and walked to and fro inside his room. 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. The AHRC is deeply concerned by the contradiction in the application of jurisprudence by the SC in these cases, particularly its ruling on positive identification, the credibility of witness and its appreciation of forensic evidence. 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 women were found dead with multiple stab wounds and no witnesses, murder weapons or motive have been uncovered. 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. She was the prosecutions worst possible choice for a witness. 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. Reporters jostled with Vizcondes relatives and friends in his garage, where Fr. LYN RILLON. When she could not produce the person, Sacaguing continued to press her saying that she might as well assume the role of her informant.. [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. 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. 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. It was Alejo who had positively identified Joel and Lorenzo (delos Santos) during a police line-up. 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). TV-14. 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. After 15 years behind bars, Hubert Webb and 5 others in the Vizconde massacre case (Manila-Philippines) were released from prison on Tuesday. 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. Thus, her testimony could not be admitted. Webb's reliance on the presumption of regularity of official functions, stressing the fact that the US-INS certifications are official documents, is misplaced. [12] (Under Philippine law, generally, alibi is the weakest defense, especially where there is direct testimony of an eyewitness, duly corroborated by another. She said the US-based defense witnesses, most of whom are relatives or friends of the Webb family suffered from "incorrigible and selective memory syndrome". (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. And while justice seems elusive, life must go on, Vizcondes grandniece Katherine Asuncion said, reading from a family statement. The Vizconde massacre - my defining moment | Philstar.com 150 likes. 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 era. Asuncion, 27, was a constant playmate of Jennifer Vizconde, who was 7 years old when she was killed. Under the law, prosecutors of a murder case are given 20 years from the time it occurred or the time it was discovered to identify suspects and charge them in court. For example, I was the first one to report the shooting of 16-year-old Maureen Hultman and her boyfriend by the son of former chief justice Claudio Teehankee in 1991 in my column at theInquirer, because the girls stepfather, Anders, a Swede, came to myIsumbongoffice at Radyo Veritas. Vizconde massacre. He also ordered the Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima to study the possibility of giving compensation to Webb and others. The Vizconde massacre: Justice not served - BusinessMirror Remember when I made the disclosure that someone is pressuring the justices to vote for a reversal? 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. Remember that death is the ultimate equalizer. [57] The witnesses include an electrician, a drug dealer, a couple of neighborhood basketball players, a hairdresser and a village security guard. New Vizconde massacre witness found | Inquirer News [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. 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. Vizconde said his quest for justice was continuing despite the end of the prescription period for the prosecution of his familys killers. I incurred the ire of the citizenry, including some of my fellow columnists in theInquirer,for my defense of Hubert. 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. [2][12] Security guards Justo Cabanacan and Normal White. During the trial, accused Webb made a defence of alibi claiming that he was in the United States when the massacre of the Vizcondes happened. 176864 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et. The politician would only be allowed by the spouse to run if the party that this politician will join can come up with a big amount for their family. [49], On January 4, 2011, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said suspect Joey Filart was spotted in the United States. 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. Webb's travel documents and other paper trail of his stay in the US are unreliable proof of his absence in the Philippines at the time of the commission of the crime charged. Choose Gods endless kind of love., Hernandez also reminded Vizconde that he now had three saints in Heaven.. 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. The Vizconde Massacre | Shows | discovery+ The Vizconde massacre has been dubbed as the trial of the century as the accused hailed from prominent families of the Philippines. ), 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. 1 newspaper in terms of circulation and readership. TRUTH OUT, HEALING BEGINS. She said that when she entered Hubert's room, she saw him wearing only his pants, awake and smoking in bed. [48] Other witnesses say Webb was in the Philippines at the time of the murders. Jennifer woke up and, seeing Webb violating her sister, jumped on him and bit him. The lower courts, however, reasoned that "Webb's alibi cannot stand against Alfaro's positive identification of him." While the SC rejected Alfaros testimony being not a credible witness, it held Alejo still a credible witness despite the inconsistencies in his testimony. Villarama noted that the alleged Passport, Passenger Manifest of United Airlines Flight and United Airline ticket of accused Webb offered in evidence were mere photocopies of an alleged original, which were never presented. [29], For the alibi to be established "the accused must prove by positive, clear, and satisfactory evidence that he was present at another place at the time of the perpetration of the crime, and that it was physically impossible for him to be at the scene of the crime". 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." Di naman ako puwede magtrabaho don (If that's the case, then I should have had a salary. 24, Rule 134, R. (P.S. 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. Eh di sana may sweldo ako. 16:53. The trial began in August 1995 before Paraaque RTC Judge Amelita Tolentino. Similar to the accused in the Vizconde case, all the accused in the Abadilla case invoked their defence of alibi. The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II - May the Lord Be with Us! ABADILLA MURDER CASE: This case is about the murder of Rolando Abadilla, a police colonel during Marcos regime, at 8:30 on June 13, 1996 at the Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City. No. All of us who have cases in court, dont we realize that if your opponent has money, brace yourself. 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.