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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. 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. 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. 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. "[29], The court held that security guard Normal E. White, Jr.'s testimony was unreliable. 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. The CA rather held that positive and unequivocal declaration is sufficient to support a conviction which was affirmed by the SC. 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. [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. Am I dismayed by the decision of the (Supreme Court)? 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. Early Thursday, Lauro Vizconde went to Holy Cross Memorial Park and laid bouquets of roses on the tombs of his wife and daughters. 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. 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. The SC did not apply the two tests it invoked on the Vizconde case before accepting the positive identification of Alejo as credible, and him as a credible witness. The most significant topic that Ive ever written about and which I personally got involved in was the Vizconde massacre. [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. 187745. The Vizconde massacre: Justice not served - BusinessMirror 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. 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. a contribution to Human Rights work, Asian Human Rights Commission 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. 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. 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 Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us! - sirasa.dixiesewing.com Biong was released from jail on November 30, 2010, after serving his sentence. Corona." Similar to the accused in the Vizconde case, all the accused in the Abadilla case invoked their defence of alibi. The Vizconde Massacre. VIZCONDE MASSACRE: After 20 Years | GMA News Online Violent Vizconde Massacre | Crimes That Shocked Asia - YouTube Another accused, Joey Filart also fled to the United States. In a 38-page strongly-worded decision promulgated on Tuesday, the . 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. The CA held that these ballistic results are inconclusive and can never prevail over appellants positive identification by eyewitness Freddie Alejo. Ateneo law professor Alan Paguia: "The order of release is questionable as it appears to be undemocratic. 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. 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 SCs decision affirming the guilty verdict by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City on the Abadilla Five, the five men accused in the murder of police colonel Rolando Abadilla on June 13, 1996, is already the subject of a final appeal filed on October 8, 2010. Former Paraaque policeman Gerardo Biong was found guilty as an accessory for burning bedsheets and tampering with other evidence in the crime. No. On the night of June 29, 1991, Asuncion was supposed to have a sleepover with Jennifer at the latters home in Paraaque City. As already mentioned, the SC concluded Alfaro to be not a credible witness because she did not meet these two criteria. Jennifer woke up and, seeing Webb violating her sister, jumped on him and bit him. [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. One of the important pieces of evidence, which I presented to the court later, was the copy of an invoice issued to Hubert Webb on coincidence of coincidences! 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 SC required this test as necessary before a testimony of positive identification could be accepted as credible and with merit. 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. 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]. Vizconde Massacre Case Digest - Philippine True Crime Stories | Martin Rules. [2] Two of the accused remain fugitives from the law: Joey Filart and Artemio Ventura. The Vizconde Massacre | Shows | discovery+ 176864. Both the SC and the CA affirmed the RTCs sentence of guilty verdict without applying the test on the credibility of a witness as they did in Vizconde case. [51] On March 18, Hubert Webb filed a lawsuit against Jessica Alfaro for false testimony at the Paraaque Prosecutor's Office. I became a villain in the eyes of the citizenry that was crying for blood; but I was steadfast. She had been hanging around that agency for sometime as a stool pigeon, one paid for mixing up with criminals and squealing on them. SC slams 'unbelievable' testimony of Vizconde massacre witness. The court also said that it was "possible for Alfaro to lie" on the details of the case. The court rejected his testimony because he was a disgruntled witness. 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. 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. While washing Hubert Webb's clothing, Gaviola said she noticed fresh bloodstains on his shirt. : Directed by Carlo J. Caparas. Many of the stories in my columns in previous newspapers were complaints from citizens. 'Hubert Webb was in PH during Vizconde massacre' - ABS-CBN News We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. LIKE me to support Mr. Vizconde "[29], The court maintained that for a person to be convicted there should not be "a reasonable, lingering doubt as to his guilt." The women were found dead with multiple stab wounds and no witnesses, murder weapons or motive have been uncovered. But big offenses, such as rape or attempted rape, should be filed with the police or the prosecutors office. May I invite you to watch?). Hello friends! 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. The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II - May the Lord Be with Us! - IMDb The 47-year-old Estrellita had 13 stab wounds. 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. Choose Gods endless kind of love., Hernandez also reminded Vizconde that he now had three saints in Heaven.. starring Kris Aquino as Carmela Vizconde. [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. LYN RILLON. 127262 Hubert Webb, et al. I found this As of yesterday, police had arrested and filed criminal charges against six fraternity members suspected to have beaten to death John Matthew Salilig in a twisted concept ofbrotherhood. [9] They were acquitted by a trial judge in September 1993 for insufficient evidence.[9]. Evid. The Vizconde massacre made headlines in the Philippines in the '90s and started a trend in filmmaking. 5. 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. 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. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison. 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. Three days after that, he was allegedly approached by Mrs. Webb who reportedly told him, You did not see anything. A week after, Sen. Freddie Webb allegedly told him, You did not see anything. 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. 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. That's all crap! SC acquits Hubert Webb, 6 others in Vizconde massacre Shades of what happened in the 2004 elections, when a national official was paid a huge sum to run under a political party. The lower courts, the Supreme Court said, held that "Webb was actually in Paraaque when the Vizconde killings took place". Biong walks free, insists he's innocent | ABS-CBN News Pitong, an electrician who since 1982, already knew the Webb family claimed he saw a laundry woman wash a bloodied T-shirt on the morning of the crime. She said that when she entered Hubert's room, she saw him wearing only his pants, awake and smoking in bed. Manila Times Special Report on the Vizconde Case, G.R. Credibility of a witness: In Vizconde case not credible, but credible in the Abadilla case. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy. The film claims to have been based on new evidence from the then-ongoing trial. Tel: +(852) 2698 6339 Herbas and Alejo worked for the Abadillas as security guards. I will be conferring with my lawyers about my future moves.. Thus, her testimony could not be admitted. The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II - May the Lord Be with Us! 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. Their original conviction was capital punishment but their sentence was modified to life imprisonment when the death penalty was abolished. Suspicions, no matter how strong they are, must never sway judgment. But in the Abadilla case, the relatives and friends are not an impartial witness to corroborate the defence of alibi of the accused. Firstly, like Alfaro, Alejo also received money and free accommodation from the persons who had interest in his testimony. 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. [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.