The women were found dead with multiple stab wounds and no witnesses, murder weapons or motive have been uncovered. In the Philippines in 1992, the Vizconde Massacre, which saw the murder of multiple women who had been stabbed to death, created an investigation full of problems. Alfaro had testified that she knew the suspects and was at the Vizconde house when the crime was committed. 176864 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et. 132577 People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, 1999, G.R. Hubert and his co-accused were convicted by the Paraaque Regional Trial Court for the crime on June 6, 2000. The court said that Alfaro was not a credible witness and that her "story of what she personally saw must be believable, not inherently contrived". For almost two decades, Filipinos have been mystified by the brutal 1991 killing of a mother and her two daughters. . Aug 5, 2008. 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. 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. The prosecution did not present him as their witness during the trial. 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. [29], The court said that "among the accused, Webb presented the strongest alibi". Hong Kong [13][14], Other prosecution witnesses were: Carlos J. Cristobal who alleged that on March 9, 1991, he was a passenger of United Airlines Flight No. 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. Welcome to my maiden column in TheSTAR, now the countrys No. 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. She did not show up at the NBI as a spontaneous witness (only after four years) bothered by her conscience. Webb's testimony was also contradicted by other US-based defense witnesses who said they usually saw him "going to the beach, malling, bar-hopping or playing basketball. 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. Fax: +(852) 2698 6367, Copyright 2023 Asian Human Rights Commission. But her parents did not allow her to go. InAbadilla case: The SC affirmed the CAs judgement as inconclusive the use of forensic evidence, for example, the fingerprints and ballistic test results, showing that none of the five accused had their fingerprints match to those extracted from the murder victims car. The court also said that it was "possible for Alfaro to lie" on the details of the case. It cautioned itself from accepting the testimonies of witnesses without applying these tests. It is that simple. I stand by my story. The majority of the justices also rejected as conjecture the argument of one of the dissenting justices, Martin Villarama Jr., that it would not have been impossible during the interregnum for Webb to travel back to the country and again fly to the US several times considering that the travel time on board an airline from the Philippines to San Francisco, and from San Francisco to the Philippines takes only about twelve (12) to fourteen (14) hours. 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. There was only one vital witness for the prosecution, Freddie Alejo. Im still hoping for a miracle to happen. Besides the horror itself, the suspected perpetrators included high-society figures. The people urging President Rodrigo Digong Duterte to run for vice president in the 2022 elections are making fun of him. [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. [60] Mario, a hair stylist during the period June 1991, testified that Webb, along with Tony Boy Lejano and Dong Ventura had their haircut. Executive M/Sgt. 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. 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 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. This coincided with his passport and Philippine Immigration records but were dismissed by Tolentino due to belief that these documents can possibly be falsified. [55], On June 28, 2011, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said Hubert Webb was in the Philippines when the murders took place. 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. Alfaro, upon explaining on how the house was ransacked, (the Paraaque police had earlier blamed house robbers as suspects), said that Ventura was looking for the front-door key and the car key. Defence of Alibi: In Vizconde case not admissible, in Abadilla case court acted on conjectures. Similar to the accused in the Vizconde case, all the accused in the Abadilla case invoked their defence of alibi. 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. The massacre and surrounding events were depicted in the 1993 film The Vizconde Massacre Story (God Help Us!) No. But big offenses, such as rape or attempted rape, should be filed with the police or the prosecutors office. 3. June 30, 1991 for a bicycle he bought from a store in Orange County, Los Angeles, California. 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. 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. ), 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. 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. They cannot be the bases of conviction as they cannot substitute for the constitutional requirement of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Forensic evidence: In Vizconde case it cannot lie, in Abadilla case it is inconclusive. [22], On October 8, 2010, Webb filed an urgent motion for acquittal. The Supreme Court acquitted them on Dec. 14, 2010. Asuncion, 27, was a constant playmate of Jennifer Vizconde, who was 7 years old when she was killed. Call 896 6000. The 47-year-old Estrellita had 13 stab wounds. 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 . On January 4, 2000, the Regional Trial Court of Paranaque City rendered its judgement finding all the accused guilty as charged imposing a penalty of life imprisonment. She added that suspect Miguel Rodriguez warned her to "shut up or you're gonna get killed" in the same disco on April 8, 1995, prompting her to voluntarily submit herself to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for protection. 1. [29] 127262 Hubert Webb, et al. vs. People of the Philippines et al., 1997, G.R. It was based on the rule of the minority and not the majority as they (the SC justices) had enunciated in Fortich v. Alfaro said Estrellita was killed before Webb began to rape Carmela. [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. At any rate, Rameses de Jesus admitted that they were using the new car of Lenido Lumanog. G/F, 52 Princess Margaret Road Envy aliens who can avoid PH; pity Pinoys who are stuck here. (P.S. Vizconde Massacre Case Digest - Philippine True Crime Stories | Martin Rules. May I invite you to watch?). 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. 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. 3. :Isumbongwill make a comeback on PTV-4 on June 12, 2021. [57] The witnesses include an electrician, a drug dealer, a couple of neighborhood basketball players, a hairdresser and a village security guard. Massacre case in 1991 Webb was accused of raping Carmela Vizconde, 18, who was killed in her family's Paraaque home on June 30, 1991. I would not have ended up like this if you had not neglected me). However, keep in mind not to be vindictive. Remember when I made the disclosure that someone is pressuring the justices to vote for a reversal? Theyre projecting Digong as a feeble old man still seeking power. Once again, the SCs applications of jurisprudence on the admissibility of forensic evidence in criminal trial have not been equally applied. 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. 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. White was mistaken in saying that Gatchalian and company went in and out of the gated community many times, since they only entered once. 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. 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. The court also said that if Webb was in the U.S. when the crime was committed, the Alfaro's testimony would not hold together: "Without it, the evidence against the others must necessarily fall. 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. Among those present were former Vice President Teofisto Guingona; Arsenio Boy Evangelista, father of carjack victim Venson Evangelista; Dacer-Corbito witness Cezar Mancao and his lawyer Ferdinand Topacio; and members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC). Youd be surprised who the people are behind the call for his extension; some of them are top politicians. October 1, 1996 Judge Amelita Tolentino of the Paraaque RTC rejected 132 of the defense's 142 pieces of evidence. 16:53. After the shooting, he could have easily and quickly transferred to Camp Crame between 9:00 and 9:30 in the morning. She did not know nor met any of them. 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 CA held that these ballistic results are inconclusive and can never prevail over appellants positive identification by eyewitness Freddie Alejo. 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. Justo Cabanacan, the security supervisor of the gated community, said that he saw Webb enter the gated community, although he did not record Webb entering in his log book. When the accused appealed the decision, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the judgement of conviction by the RTC. Abadilla Case Decision from the Court of Appeals:http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-CAdecision.pdf. September 7, 2010http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/september2010/182555.htm Unreliability of Jessica Alfaro's testimony: Alfaro had prior knowledge on the facts of the case having been an, Alfaro was not able to explain why the house was ransacked if robbery was not the motive of Webb and his group, Unreliability of testimony from other witnesses, Alfaro's testimony will fall apart if Webb was not at the crime scene and will relieve the others accused of the crime.