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. [2] Tolentino said the certificates issued by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Philippine Bureau of Immigration "could have easily been obtained by the powerful Webb family". Even if we were denied justice, I consoled them that at least people already know what really happened, he said. [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. After the Mass, VACC founding chair Dante Jimenez urged Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against the seven Supreme Court justices who either voted to acquit Webb and coaccused or abstained from voting last December. The President has time and again said that he was very tired of running the country and, if he had his way, would have stepped down.
Biong walks free, insists he's innocent | ABS-CBN News Remember when I made the disclosure that someone is pressuring the justices to vote for a reversal? [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". [48] Other witnesses say Webb was in the Philippines at the time of the murders. Asuncion, 27, was a constant playmate of Jennifer Vizconde, who was 7 years old when she was killed. True Crime. 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. 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. I will kill you, brandishing a shiny revolver. X' key to real perpetrators of Vizconde murders? But Villaramas opinion was not considered by the SC in their majority decision. [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. 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". 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. ", Jessica Alfaro: Alfaro's e-mail from abroad read. Herbas had testified for the defence instead of the prosecution when the Abadilla did not fulfil his promise to give him (Herbas) exactly the same salary he was receiving and when he was told that he would no longer be presented as witness because the testimony of Alejo would be sufficient. 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". I am not an NBI agent nor an NBI asset. For those who havent heard aboutIsumbong, the public service program started at Radyo Veritas on June 1, 1991.
[29]
The Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us! (1993) 187745. 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. Sign up now!
The Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us! - sirasa.dixiesewing.com 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. 176864. 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. The term dirty politics is appropriate for that kind of set-up. The people urging President Rodrigo Digong Duterte to run for vice president in the 2022 elections are making fun of him. 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. The most significant topic that Ive ever written about and which I personally got involved in was the Vizconde massacre. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Abadilla Case Petition for Review on Certiorario:http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5/docs/A5-FinalAppealPetition.pdf 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. The women were found dead with multiple stab wounds and no witnesses, murder weapons or motive have been uncovered. (Update 6:47 p.m.) The Supreme Court (SC) has cast doubts on the credibility of Jessica Alfaro, the so-called star witness in the gruesome killings of three members of the Vizconde family almost two decades ago. "[29], The court held that security guard Normal E. White, Jr.'s testimony was unreliable. On the contrary, it reopens it. While washing Hubert Webb's clothing, Gaviola said she noticed fresh bloodstains on his shirt. The Supreme Court acquitted them on Dec. 14, 2010. 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". ", The victims of the massacre (from left to right): Jennifer, Carmela, and Estrellita Vizconde, "The Vizconde massacre: Justice not served", "Lauro Vizconde to be buried in same grave with family Wednesday", "Manila Standard Google News Archive Search", "The Manila Times Internet Edition SPECIAL REPORT > Questions linger in Vizconde case", The Philippine Daily Inquirer, December 31, 2010, "Philippine Daily Inquirer Google News Archive Search", "NBI exec: We've turned over semen specimen from Vizconde girl to court", "2 SC justices asked to go on leave pending Vizconde decision", "SC sues for time, defers ruling on Vizconde case", Philippine Daily Inquirer, SC Acquits Webb et al, "Supreme Court decision on Webb et al re Vizconde Massacre", Lauro Vizconde in tears, Webbs on 'cloud nine', Gary, Kris speak up on Hubert's acquittal, Outrage over decision, sympathy for Vizconde, Ruling raises more questions, lawyers point out, Vizconde kin question why Webb was released so quickly, Alfaro unwilling to testifying anew in Vizconde case Jessica Alfaro stands by story, Criminal law experts umalma sa pag-absuwelto ng SC kay Webb, Ex-VP Guingona to SC: Reverse Webb's acquittal to give justice to Vizconde, "Another 'Joey Filart' still under detention", "New Vizconde massacre witnesses surface", New witnesses to prove Webb in PH during Vizconde massacre, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Hubert Webb seeks P180K compensation for 'unlawful' conviction, NBI, PNP teams probe 3 sets of Vizconde slay suspects, Vizconde massacre has new set of witnesses, Evidence, witnesses 'shatter' Webb alibi: task force, DoJ chief: No credible proof of Webb in crime scene, De Lima hints at explosive breakthrough in Vizconde probe. 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. It is that simple. "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 4. InVizconde case: The SC has given weight to the importance of forensic evidence in a court trial. The Vizconde Massacre. Birrer said she had accompanied Biong to the Vizconde house to destroy the evidence and to retrieve Webb's jacket and the murder weapon. Alfaro said that when she went back to the house, she saw the bodies of Estrellita and Jennifer on the bed and Webb raping Carmela on the floor. I was a barbarian in my college years at the University of the Philippines. 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. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Vizconde said he was optimistic about finding more witnesses.. God does not teach us to retaliate. 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 Vizconde massacre made headlines in the Philippines in the '90s and started a trend in filmmaking. 185123/G.R. [2][12] Security guards Justo Cabanacan and Normal White. Firstly, like Alfaro, Alejo also received money and free accommodation from the persons who had interest in his testimony. The SCs decision in acquitting all the accused in the Vizconde case has fundamental contradictions to its earlier decision affirming the guilty verdict of the accused in the Abadilla case. 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. [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. 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. But in the Abadilla case, the relatives and friends are not an impartial witness to corroborate the defence of alibi of the accused. The RTC, however, acquitted Delos Santos despite being positively identified also by Alejo as one of those who was present at the crime scene. Nine years later, still no clarity on EDCA sites. No.
New Vizconde massacre witness found | Inquirer News 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! The NBI is the agency responsible in providing security and protection of witnesses admitted under WPP. This is one of the most controversial and widely publicised massacre cases because of the involvement of the son of a former Philippine .
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