I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy. Be consoled that the truth will always come out, Hernandez advised Vizconde. Movie producers and directors rode the wave of public outcry by creating true-to-life films based on such heinous crimes. 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. 185123/G.R. Asuncion, 27, was a constant playmate of Jennifer Vizconde, who was 7 years old when she was killed. InVizconde case: The SC has given weight to the importance of forensic evidence in a court trial. The SC acquitted all the accused, reversing and dismissing the guilty verdict of the RTC and the CA. 176864 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et. They cannot be the bases of conviction as they cannot substitute for the constitutional requirement of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. So how can such accused penetrate a mind that has been made cynical by the rule drilled into his head that a defense of alibi is a hangmans noose in the face of a witness positively swearing. [49], On January 4, 2011, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said suspect Joey Filart was spotted in the United States. But big offenses, such as rape or attempted rape, should be filed with the police or the prosecutors office. LYN RILLON. [56][62][63][64] Dang claimed to have heard Dong Villadolid shouting at the top of his voice, saying they had raped and killed a certain Maria (presumed to be Maria Carmela Vizconde) and other persons. I also updated them on the new twist in the investigation. The prescription period does not matter to me, its just a date, he said. Aug 5, 2008. Ateneo law professor Alan Paguia: "The order of release is questionable as it appears to be undemocratic. On the contrary, it reopens it. 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". Hopefully, if they will surface, public pressure will snowball and I will finally get the justice I am looking for, he said. The Vizconde Massacre | Shows | discovery+ Webb presented certifications from the U.S. Immigration but he failed to submit as evidence in court the original copy of his passport with immigration entry stamped on it. I told my family that I did my best. Please try again. Call 896 6000. Eh di sana may sweldo ako. The 47-year-old Estrellita had 13 stab wounds. No. No. The lower courts, however, reasoned that "Webb's alibi cannot stand against Alfaro's positive identification of him." She said that when she entered Hubert's room, she saw him wearing only his pants, awake and smoking in bed. On April 28, 1995, National Bureau of Investigations asset and self-confessed drug user Jessica Alfaro came forward to police authorities to shed light on the killing of the Vizconde family. "I doubt that at this time, physical evidence will be available because a lapse of time has taken place, but that's the only way we can find the true killers." Run after Alfaro A lying witness can make as positive an identification as a truthful witness can. 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. She observed Hubert was quite irritated, uneasy, and walked to and fro inside his room. 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. Published July 4, 2011 7:24pm. She did not show up at the NBI as a spontaneous witness (only after four years) bothered by her conscience. He also ordered the Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima to study the possibility of giving compensation to Webb and others. The lead suspect was Hubert Webb whose father, Freddie Webb was famous as an actor, former basketball player, and Paraaque congressman at the time of the murders. 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. I stood my ground because I had all the facts in my hand. [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. [56] According to De Lima, all the new witnesses passed the polygraph test. Thus, it was not surprising for Alfaro to testify with great details in court. 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. Alfaro, who had "practically lived" at the NBI's offices, would have been able to hear about the details, and gain access to the documents, without difficulty. Nine years later, still no clarity on EDCA sites. The Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us! (1993) - IMDb Both Webb and del Toro could not describe in court what Hubert's work was, Tolentino said. Vizconde Massacre Case Digest - Philippine True Crime Stories | Martin Rules. You are just a few clicks away from making Her mother, Estrellita, 47, and sister, Jennifer, 7, were also killed. (1994) Details Release date June 24, 1993 (Philippines) Country of origin Philippines Languages English Filipino Tagalog Filming locations Hello friends! Webbs son, Hubert Jeffrey, is also the brother of a television host, Pinky, in one of the largest television networks in the country. This is a violation of the duty of state." But Custodio admits this may be easier said than done. Similar to the accused in the Vizconde case, all the accused in the Abadilla case invoked their defence of alibi. 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. The Murder of an Entire Family While Dad Was Abroad for Work al., 2010, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vizconde_murders&oldid=1138122178, Loss of DNA evidence not a ground for outright acquittal. Philstar.com is one of the most vibrant, opinionated, discerning communities of readers on cyberspace. He and six others spent 15 years in jail. "[21], In April 2010, the Supreme Court approved DNA testing to be performed on the semen specimen obtained during autopsy from Carmela Vizconde. 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". vs. Raul de Leon et. She did not know nor met any of them. 24, Rule 134, R. Abadilla Case Petition for Review on Certiorario:http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-FinalAppealPetition.pdf 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. Jennifer Diaz, chief of the women and childrens desk, told Allan to file the complaint with the barangay where they reside. [65] One team uncovered Black Maria, a woman whom one witness said had told him she was with Webb's group inside the Vizconde home and saw the crime take place. To find out more, please click this link. No. 1. Credibility of a witness: In Vizconde case not credible, but credible in the Abadilla case. [17], On January 6, 2000, Judge Tolentino rendered her decision, finding Hubert Webb, Peter Estrada, Hospicio Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, Antonio Lejano II and Miguel Rodriguez guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of rape with homicide. I am not an NBI agent nor an NBI asset. [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". The DoJ also placed Alfaro under the Witness Protection Program (WPP) during the trial period. [51] On March 18, Hubert Webb filed a lawsuit against Jessica Alfaro for false testimony at the Paraaque Prosecutor's Office. Theyre projecting Digong as a feeble old man still seeking power. Let the love of God prevail. The RTC, however, acquitted Delos Santos despite being positively identified also by Alejo as one of those who was present at the crime scene. Those initially jailed for. The details of how they were killed were grim. [29], In his dissenting opinion, Justice Villarama argued that the claim of Webb that he could not have committed the crime because he left for the United States on March 9, 1991, and returned to the Philippines only on October 26, 1992, was correctly rejected by the Regional Trial Court and Court of Appeals. Policewoman Diaz even insulted Allan, saying he had no right to file the attempted rape complaint on behalf of the girl, because he was only the stepfather. The trial of the case having been long concluded, the requirements of the law may have been satisfied, but not the demands of justice. 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." 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. The fight is not over. [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. Only minor cases, like oral defamation and quarrel between neighbors, are handled by the barangay. Firstly, in the Vizconde case, the SC still held as credible the corroborating testimonies of the witnesses favouring Hubert Jeffrey who are mostly his relatives and friends in support of his defence of alibi. [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. 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. The Jessica Alfaro Story in 1995 was meanwhile focused on the star witness, portrayed by Alice Dixson. The SC rendered its judgment on the Abadilla case on September 7 and on the Vizconde case on December 14 of this year [2010]. In a 38-page strongly-worded decision promulgated on Tuesday, the . Biong was released from jail on November 30, 2010, after serving his sentence. The court also said that it was "possible for Alfaro to lie" on the details of the case. "[29] In general, the court said that Alfaro's story "lacks sense or suffers from inherent inconsistencies. Remember when I made the disclosure that someone is pressuring the justices to vote for a reversal? 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. 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. It is time to heal the past. 187745. Indeed, if the accused is truly innocent, he can have no other defense but denial and alibi. 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. The SC, however, held that by failing to prove the existence of a relationship between Hubert and Carmela; and that the lover that Alfaro claimed that Carmela had met did not come forward in public or in court, her testimonies about the accused and the victims were like a piece of jigsaw puzzle trimmed to fit into the shape on the board but does not belong because it clashes with the surrounding pieces and the lover was a mere ghost of the imagination of Alfaro, the woman who made a living informing on criminals. Executive M/Sgt. Episode on July 5, 2011 Tuesday after Saksi! The prosecutors, the RTC and the CA have been made aware of this fact by the defence. Copyright 2023. The Vizconde massacre - my defining moment | Philstar.com Hubert Webb of Vizconde Massacre Freed- Breaking News - theAsianparent 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. 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 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". 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. Appendix: Case analysis: Supreme Court's rulings on Vizconde and There was only one vital witness for the prosecution, Freddie Alejo. Conjectures and suspicions are not facts, hence, they have no evidentiary value. References: 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. Rey and Jerry claimed they saw Webb playing basketball between the months of June and July 1991 during a league in BF Homes. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. My program is the originalsumbungan ng bayan sa radyo(roughly, citizens complaint center on radio). Manila Times Special Report on the Vizconde Case, G.R. 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. On June 30, 1991, 47-year-old housewife Estrellita Vizconde and daughters Carmela, 18, and Jennifer, 7, were found dead in their residence in BF Homes in Paraaque. All of us who have cases in court, dont we realize that if your opponent has money, brace yourself. Your subscription could not be saved. The CA held that these ballistic results are inconclusive and can never prevail over appellants positive identification by eyewitness Freddie Alejo. :Isumbongwill make a comeback on PTV-4 on June 12, 2021. 16:53. 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." [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". 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. Fax: +(852) 2698 6367, Copyright 2023 Asian Human Rights Commission. Vizconde Massacre: The hidden Truth - Facebook [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. InVizconde case: The majority of the justices strongly argued against relying on conjectures on deciding the case, particularly on the claim that Hubert Jeffrey could have been in the Philippines, and not in the U.S., when the crime happened. Needless to say, were unpopular with the PNP and other government agencies that citizens transact business with. InAbadilla case: Both the RTC and the CA did not apply this test of credibility of a witness before accepting the testimony of Alejo. [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. People vs. Bello, G.R. [46], President Benigno Aquino III ordered the law enforcement agencies to re-investigate the case six months before the prescription period lapses. 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. Webb had presented the alibi that he was in the United States when the crime was committed, but he was still found guilty by the Paraaque Regional Trial Court. She said the same MRT provided data that several Webbs arrived in the country, including Hubert, sometime in October 1992. Kaya laban lang tayo. 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 . 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. 1 newspaper in terms of circulation and readership. Violent Vizconde Massacre | Crimes That Shocked Asia - YouTube

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