a contribution to Human Rights work, Asian Human Rights Commission Connections Followed by The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II - May the Lord Be with Us! Your subscription could not be saved. [10] According to the footage of the trial, Alfaro had been able to identify all the defendants by their names. The court rejected his testimony because he was a disgruntled witness. No. 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. 3. I can't express enough how sad and unjust today's story. Yes, but what can I do (?). 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. 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. Alibi cannot prevail over the positive identification of a credible witness [140].. The lower courts, however, reasoned that "Webb's alibi cannot stand against Alfaro's positive identification of him." Manila Times Special Report on the Vizconde Case, G.R. [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. Similar to the accused in the Vizconde case, all the accused in the Abadilla case invoked their defence of alibi. My program is the originalsumbungan ng bayan sa radyo(roughly, citizens complaint center on radio). On the acquittal of Lorenzo delos Santos, the accused whom Alejo had also positively identified, it ruled that his acquittal did not damage Alejos credibility; and his positive identification of the accused. They are Lenido Lumanog, Augusto Santos, Senior Police Officer 2 (SPO2) Cesar Fortuna, Rameses de Jesus and Joel de Jesus. Biong walks free, insists he's innocent | ABS-CBN News He was sentenced to eleven years in prison. 2. The court ruled that Alfaro was "a stool pigeon, one who earned her living by fraternizing with criminals so she could squeal on them to her NBI handlers." 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." 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. White was mistaken in saying that Gatchalian and company went in and out of the gated community many times, since they only entered once. SC acquits Hubert Webb, 6 others in Vizconde massacre 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. Sources from the Department of Justice said Webb, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court last December, 2010, was in the country during and after the crime happened in . TV-14. 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. Defence of Alibi: In Vizconde case not admissible, in Abadilla case court acted on conjectures. He alleged that Webb bought illegal drugs from him on two other occasions in May 1991. I was a barbarian in my college years at the University of the Philippines. 1 newspaper in terms of circulation and readership. 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. No. Vizconde massacre. [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. 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. The San Jose police station eventually received and filed the complaint with the prosecutors office in Batangas City, only after my staff at Isumbong mo kay Tulfo told them Diazs arrogance would reach Camp Crame. 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. The trial of the case having been long concluded, the requirements of the law may have been satisfied, but not the demands of justice. [46], President Benigno Aquino III ordered the law enforcement agencies to re-investigate the case six months before the prescription period lapses. [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]. Tolentino also found it hard to believe that Webb was working with a pesticide company because he was asthmatic and allergic to various substances. Former Paraaque policeman Gerardo Biong was found guilty as an accessory for burning bedsheets and tampering with other evidence in the crime. Webb's reliance on the presumption of regularity of official functions, stressing the fact that the US-INS certifications are official documents, is misplaced. 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. [60] Mario, a hair stylist during the period June 1991, testified that Webb, along with Tony Boy Lejano and Dong Ventura had their haircut. People vs. Bello, G.R. 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. [165] The discrepancies between a sworn statement and testimony in court do not outrightly justify the acquittal of an accused,[166] as testimonial evidence carries more weight than an affidavit. Hopefully, if they will surface, public pressure will snowball and I will finally get the justice I am looking for, he said. Even if we were denied justice, I consoled them that at least people already know what really happened, he said. MANILA, Philippines - Six new witnesses reveal Hubert Webb, son of former Senator Freddie Webb, was in the Philippines when the Vizconde massacre took place on June 1991. al., 2010, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vizconde_murders&oldid=1138122178, Loss of DNA evidence not a ground for outright acquittal. Fax: +(852) 2698 6367, Copyright 2023 Asian Human Rights Commission. [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". G.R. The Vizconde massacre - my defining moment | Philstar.com 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 Murder of an Entire Family While Dad Was Abroad for Work They cannot be the bases of conviction as they cannot substitute for the constitutional requirement of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. 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. [9] They were acquitted by a trial judge in September 1993 for insufficient evidence.[9]. On June 30, 1991, Estrellita Vizconde and her two daughters: Carmela and Jennifer, were found lifeless inside their home in Paraaque. 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. There was entry of (former senator) Freddie Webb leaving the country in March 1991 but no Hubert Webb, De Lima said. De Lima also said seven new witnesses claimed they saw Webb in the country during the months of April, May and June 1991. 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. 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. It would be a serious miscarriage of justice and a demonstration of inequality before the law should jurisprudence not be applied equally. 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. [48] Other witnesses say Webb was in the Philippines at the time of the murders. This is despite questions to his credibility for receiving money and enjoying privileges while he was in Abadillas custody and the existence of inconsistencies in his testimonies in open court. April 28, 1995 Jessica Alfaro presents herself as a witness and accuses Hubert Webb. starring Kris Aquino as Carmela Vizconde. The lower courts, the Supreme Court said, held that "Webb was actually in Paraaque when the Vizconde killings took place". 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. Forensic evidence: In Vizconde case it cannot lie, in Abadilla case it is inconclusive. Jennifer woke up and, seeing Webb violating her sister, jumped on him and bit him. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. Massacre era. Their original conviction was capital punishment but their sentence was modified to life imprisonment when the death penalty was abolished. Vizconde murders - Wikipedia The defense questioned Alfaro's credibility noting that she admitted to being under the influence of drugs when she allegedly witnessed the crime and had made inconsistent statements on her two affidavits. Besides the horror itself, the suspected perpetrators included high-society figures. "[29], The court held that security guard Normal E. White, Jr.'s testimony was unreliable. [29] This coincided with his passport and Philippine Immigration records but were dismissed by Tolentino due to belief that these documents can possibly be falsified. The story of the Vizconde Massacre wasn't just a single story; it varied as told by a number of witnesses. By providing an email address. This was a case that was solved nine years after the murders and then unsolved 10 years later. [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. Abadilla Case Decision from the Court of Appeals:http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-CAdecision.pdf. Acting solely on Alfaros testimony, the Department of Justice (DoJ) filed charges of rape with homicide against the eight accused on August 1995. The Vizconde murders remained unsolved for almost four years, until eyewitness Jessica Alfaro, a self-confessed former drug addict, came forward on April 28, 1995, to shed light on the massacre. Similar to the Vizconde case, the five accused made a defence of alibi claiming that they were somewhere else on June 13, 1996 when the murder of Abadilla happened. On Vizconde Massacre, Hubert Webb and the Quest for True Justice (1st 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. This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 03:37. Envy aliens who can avoid PH; pity Pinoys who are stuck here. She admitted to knowing Webb and company but denied knowledge of the Vizconde massacre, NBI Death Investigation Division head Romulo Asis said. (P.S. A lying witness can make as positive an identification as a truthful witness can. 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. 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. 176864. The case of the Vizconde Massacre took another direction only after four years, when Jessica Alfaro surfaced and became the case's star witness. 176864 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et. vs. Raul de Leon et. Visconde Masscre - Weebly Rodolfo Sison, the police investigator originally assigned to the case in 1991. vs. People of the Philippines et al., 1997, G.R. Footnote: This article comprises the text of a statement issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission, AHRC-STM-266-2010, dated 21 December 2010. But Villaramas opinion was not considered by the SC in their majority decision. As already mentioned, the SC concluded Alfaro to be not a credible witness because she did not meet these two criteria. Eh di sana may sweldo ako. [2] Lauro Vizconde, Estrellita's husband and the father of Carmela and Jennifer, was in the United States on business when the murders took place. 2. 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. From there she allegedly saw Lejano and Ventura take a knife from the kitchen drawer, while the rest of the gang acted as lookouts. The remains of his wife and daughters were also exhumed from their grave at Holy Cross Memorial Park in Quezon City and transferred to his grave. Includes gruesome real photos from the crime scene. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Vizconde said he was optimistic about finding more witnesses.. 176389 / G.R. Please try again. 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. The SC rendered its judgment on the Abadilla case on September 7 and on the Vizconde case on December 14 of this year [2010]. I stood my ground because I had all the facts in my hand. [60] De Lima believed Dong Villadolid is the same person as Dong Ventura, one of the co-accused who fled to the US following the massacre. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy. 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 NBI is the agency responsible in providing security and protection of witnesses admitted under WPP. 1. [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. Eleazar, a strict disciplinarian, is probably the only PNP chief who is loved and respected by the citizenry. 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". Ho Man Tin, Kowloon Since I was introduced to The STAR readers in the front page, Ill hit the ground running. This is one of the most controversial and widely publicised massacre cases because of the involvement of the son of a former Philippine Senator, Freddie Webb; and six others from a wealthy family background similar to that of the accused. 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. 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". 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. It strictly laid down these as the least requirement in evaluating the credibility of the claim of positive identification. Alejos testimonies in open court were also not consistent to what he had said to the police investigators immediately after the murder. Hello friends! 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. 182555/G.R. After she finished the laundry, she went to the servant's quarters. ), Among evidence that was not admitted by Judge Tolentino, was the note verbale from the United States Embassy in Manila claiming that Webb entered the United States in March 1991 and left in October 1992. Thus, it was not surprising for Alfaro to testify with great details in court. Alejo had been under the Abadillas custody and protection instead of that of the WPP of the government. 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 Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II - May the Lord Be with Us! - IMDb [58] George, a drug dealer, claimed he was introduced to Webb by former SPO1 Gerardo Biong sometime in April 1991 where the young Webb allegedly purchased from him 10grams of shabu worth P10,000. Conjectures and suspicions are not facts, hence, they have no evidentiary value. Webbs co-accused, Antonio Lejano, is a son of a known singer and celebrity. "[21], In April 2010, the Supreme Court approved DNA testing to be performed on the semen specimen obtained during autopsy from Carmela Vizconde. 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 Vizconde massacre made headlines in the Philippines in the '90s and started a trend in filmmaking. Allan (surname intentionally omitted), stepfather of a 16-year-old girl who was nearly raped by a neighbor, went with his daughter to the police station in San Jose, Batangas recently to file a complaint. Vizconde should go after the national government. :Isumbongwill make a comeback on PTV-4 on June 12, 2021. The details of how they were killed were grim. She did not show up at the NBI as a spontaneous witness (only after four years) bothered by her conscience. [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. Hong Kong Vizconde Massacre Case - Pinoy Stories They were victims of gory murder; Carmela was raped before she was killed. But to Judge Amelita Tolentino of the Paranaque Regional Trial Court, the truth was the account of star witness Jessica Alfaro. It took the trial and appeal process in this case fifteen years. The court also said that it was "possible for Alfaro to lie" on the details of the case. I will continue to play that role as long as I live. 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. Call 896 6000. [56] According to De Lima, all the new witnesses passed the polygraph test. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to indemnify the Vizconde family Php 3 million for the murders. Hubert and his co-accused were convicted by the Paraaque Regional Trial Court for the crime on June 6, 2000. 150 likes. 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. 132577 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, 1999, G.R. Kung di ninyo ako pinabayaan, 'di ako magkakaganito. (Fuck you all! Make a difference. Both Webb and del Toro could not describe in court what Hubert's work was, Tolentino said. It held that the acquittal of their co-accused does not necessarily benefit the appellants. It cannot be coached or allured by a promise of reward or financial support. I expected this decision because since the start, I knew that Jessica Alfaro was not entirely telling the truth. Violent Vizconde Massacre | Crimes That Shocked Asia - YouTube Vizconde massacre case: Back to square one | ABS-CBN News 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. The tapes were restored by IBM while being monitored by the National Computer Center. The 47-year-old Estrellita had 13 stab wounds. Her mother, Estrellita, 47, and sister, Jennifer, 7, were also killed. Sign up now! She did not know nor met any of them. [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. [50], On January 18, 2011, the Supreme Court denied Lauro Vizconde's motion to reverse the acquittal because of double jeopardy. Firstly, the SC held Alfaro was not a credible witness. 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. The SC required this test as necessary before a testimony of positive identification could be accepted as credible and with merit. No acquittal has been made as to the two accused, Filart and Ventura, who remain at-large. Pinoy murders: The worst true crimes in the Philippines Carpio testified for the defense during the trial. 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 . [51] On March 18, Hubert Webb filed a lawsuit against Jessica Alfaro for false testimony at the Paraaque Prosecutor's Office. The Truth about Mendiola Massacre - Philippine True Crime Stories | Martin Rules. Nos. Webbs son, Hubert Jeffrey, is also the brother of a television host, Pinky, in one of the largest television networks in the country. Those initially jailed for. 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 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. 5. 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. 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. [139] Against positive evidence, alibi becomes most unsatisfactory. 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. It cautioned itself from accepting the testimonies of witnesses without applying these tests. Who does forget the heart-crushing 1991 Visconde massacre, with Jessica Alfaro standing as the star witness, whistle-blowing the details how these young men before, coming from our society's influential families, killed Mang Lauro's wife and his two daughters. But I could not work there), Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption chairman. With the exception of Filart and Ventura who had been convicted in absentia the men were acquitted by the Supreme Court on December 14, 2010 for failure of the prosecution to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. 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. : Directed by Carlo J. Caparas. It is that simple. The term dirty politics is appropriate for that kind of set-up. But big offenses, such as rape or attempted rape, should be filed with the police or the prosecutors office. A second movie, The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II May The Lord Be With Us, was released in 1994 and starred Vina Morales as Carmela and Joko Daz as an assailant. The CA rather held that positive and unequivocal declaration is sufficient to support a conviction which was affirmed by the SC. 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 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. The men were released on Dec. 14 last year, after the Supreme Court dismissed the testimony of star witness Jessica Alfaro against Webb. All of us who have cases in court, dont we realize that if your opponent has money, brace yourself. Rey and Jerry claimed they saw Webb playing basketball between the months of June and July 1991 during a league in BF Homes. 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. Aug 5, 2008. 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 presumption leaned on is disputable and can be overcome by evidence to the contrary. He and six others spent 15 years in jail. Alfaro said she was then having reservations when she first executed the first affidavit and held back vital information due to her natural reaction of mistrust.