Secondly, the SC affirmed the CAs assertion that Alejo was a credible witness ignoring the questions to his credibility by arguing that: positive and unequivocal declaration is sufficient to support a conviction for murder against appellants. The Jessica Alfaro Story in 1995 was meanwhile focused on the star witness, portrayed by Alice Dixson. Like the accused in the Vizconde case and for any other cases for that matter, the accused in the Abadilla murder case also deserve equal protection of the law. [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. He said that he heard Hubert Webb quarreling with another young looking customer. 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. It was Alejo who had positively identified Joel and Lorenzo (delos Santos) during a police line-up. When the accused appealed the decision, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the judgement of conviction by the RTC. 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. [15] The accused alleged that by rejecting 132 of the 142 pieces of evidence, Tolentino had set the tone for their conviction. [9] They were acquitted by a trial judge in September 1993 for insufficient evidence.[9]. Only minor cases, like oral defamation and quarrel between neighbors, are handled by the barangay. 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. I became a villain in the eyes of the citizenry that was crying for blood; but I was steadfast. :Isumbongwill make a comeback on PTV-4 on June 12, 2021. Philstar Global Corp. All Rights Reserved. Webb's reliance on the presumption of regularity of official functions, stressing the fact that the US-INS certifications are official documents, is misplaced. Alfaro claimed that Hubert was angry at Carmela thus raping and murdering her, her younger sister and her mother, to supposedly revenge her unfaithfulness to him. 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. 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. I did that hoping to make them have second thoughts about doing so,.There is no justice in the Philippines. [6][7][8] The suspects said they were tortured and forced to confess to the crime before they were presented by Filart to the media. 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. God does not teach us to retaliate. Like Herbas, court records had also shown that Alejo has been receiving money and free accommodation from the Abadillas. 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. It held that the acquittal of their co-accused does not necessarily benefit the appellants. 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. To find out more, please click this link. The unconstitutionality of prior restraint. Both Webb and del Toro could not describe in court what Hubert's work was, Tolentino said. [2][20], The court ruled that the Paraaque RTC was correct in sentencing Webb et al. al., 2010, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vizconde_murders&oldid=1138122178, Loss of DNA evidence not a ground for outright acquittal. 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. al, 1995, G.R. The term dirty politics is appropriate for that kind of set-up. Those initially jailed for. The 47-year-old Estrellita had 13 stab wounds. She did not show up at the NBI as a spontaneous witness (only after four years) bothered by her conscience. It cautioned itself from accepting the testimonies of witnesses without applying these tests. [139] Against positive evidence, alibi becomes most unsatisfactory. Make a difference. All of us who have cases in court, dont we realize that if your opponent has money, brace yourself. The case of the Vizconde Massacre took another direction only after four years, when Jessica Alfaro surfaced and became the case's star witness. Sison was ordered to desist from further investigating that angle by then Philippine National Police Capital Region Commander Marino Filart after six members of akyat bahay gang (burglars) were arrested by Regional Police Unit in October 1991. InVizconde case: The SC applied two tests in rejecting the positive identification of Alfaro: firstly, the credibility of a witness; secondly, the testimony should be believable, not inherently contrived. [18], In her decision, Tolentino described the testimony of defense witnesses as full of inconsistencies and biased. The passing away of Lauro Vizconde a few days ago does not close the sad chapter on the tragedy known as the Vizconde massacre. And while justice seems elusive, life must go on, Vizcondes grandniece Katherine Asuncion said, reading from a family statement. In a 38-page strongly-worded decision promulgated on Tuesday, the . Abadilla Case Decision from the Court of Appeals:http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-CAdecision.pdf. G/F, 52 Princess Margaret Road 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. May I invite you to watch?). It is time to heal the past. Sulu in the eyes of my good friend Princess Jacel Kiram is a potential eco-tourism destination and fruit basket of the country. (P.S. He also ordered the Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima to study the possibility of giving compensation to Webb and others. 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). 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. De Lima said the evidence that showed Webb and any of the co-accused were in the country came from the magnetic reel tape (MRT) of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) where all records of incoming and outgoing passengers from the Philippines are recorded. 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. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy. 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. She observed Hubert was quite irritated, uneasy, and walked to and fro inside his room. Secondly, Alfaros quality as a witness and her inconsistent, if not inherently unbelievable, testimony cannot be the positive identification that jurisprudence acknowledges as sufficient. The NBI is the agency responsible in providing security and protection of witnesses admitted under WPP. Carpio testified for the defense during the trial. For there is no law requiring that the testimony of a simple [sic] witness should be corroborated for it to be accorded full faith and credit. Evid. 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. Envy aliens who can avoid PH; pity Pinoys who are stuck here. 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. Conjectures and suspicions are not facts, hence, they have no evidentiary value. His intention was very, very dubious, he said. The High Court put to question the quality of the testamentary evidence furnished by the witnesses. 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. No. 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 story of the Vizconde Massacre wasn't just a single story; it varied as told by a number of witnesses. The prosecution did not present him as their witness during the trial. But in the Abadilla case, the relatives and friends are not an impartial witness to corroborate the defence of alibi of the accused. [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. 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. But, unlike the house robbers, however the court points out that "Webb and his friends did not have anything to do in a darkened garage. All rights are reserved. The court also said the same for the issue of the garage light: she claimed that Ventura climbed the car's hood, using a chair, to turn the light off. February 26, 2021. . The Supreme Court acquitted them on Dec. 14, 2010. Another accused, Joey Filart also fled to the United States. [12] On July 24, 1997, the Supreme Court noted that Tolentino erred when she refused to admit the 132 pieces of evidence presented by the defense, although these were later admitted in court through an order issued by Tolentino.[12][16]. The lower courts, however, reasoned that "Webb's alibi cannot stand against Alfaro's positive identification of him." 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.