VIZCONDE MASSACRE CASE ORDERED REOPENED
[PHOTO COURTESY OF MANILA BULLETIN - Lauro Vizconde weeps at the tombs of his wife and daughters at Holy Cross Memorial Park in Novaliches, Quezon City, on Wednesday. PHOTO BY MIGUEL DE GUZMAN]
MANILA, DECEMBER 18, 2010 (TRIBUNE) By Aytch S. de la Cruz - The Palace issued an order yesterday for the reopening of investigations into the two-decade-old Vizconde family massacre case after the Supreme Court (SC) acquitted last Tuesday Hubert Webb and the six others who were implicated in the slaying of Estrellita Vizconde and her two daughters.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. issued a memorandum dated December 16 directing Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, Philippines National Police (PNP) Chief Raul Bacalzo and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Magtanggol Gatdula to
tap all available resources of their agencies to capture the real killers of the Vizcondes.
The reinvestigation of the case will have to work against time as the prescription period under the law for the case ends on June 30 next year.
Ochoa said that pursuant to the recent high court ruling which exonerated Webb and his fellow accused—Antonio Lejano, Michael Gatchalian, Hospicio Fernandez, Miguel Rodriguez and Peter Estrada—for the prosecution's failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the Vizconde massacre case remains unsolved.
"In view thereof, you are hereby directed to conduct a thorough reinvestigation of the case, utilizing all available resources at your disposal to finally solve the same with the end-in-view of apprehending and prosecuting the authors of the crime," Ochoa added, addressing the officials concerned.
He also reminded them to comply with the applicable prescriptive period within which to file the case considering the fact that the crime was committed in June 30, 1991.
Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code states that crimes punishable with life imprisonment shall prescribe within 20 years from the time of its execution, which means that the government only has six months to accomplish this mission.
In a single page memo, De Lima was also "tasked to evaluate, under existing laws, the possibility of granting compensation to those who may have been wrongfully accused of the said crime, in light of the Supreme Court decision".
SC spokesman and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez had said the seven acquitted in the case can file a complaint and ask for damages from the government because of the wrong decision that resulted to their imprisonment for a long period.
However, Marquez clarified that if the accused resort to such an action, they need to present sufficient evidence to prove the damages they sustained as a result of their imprisonment.
Malacanang, through deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, earlier said that law enforcement officials who may be found guilty for bungling the investigation in the Vizconde massacre case that led to the false prosecution of Webb, et. al. can be held accountable by the government for the injustice done.
Valte, however, explained that the probable implication of the previous NBI officers who investigated the murders since the time it was executed would still have to be seen especially since there is an existing presumption of regularity principle being exercised by all public officials.
She said charging the law enforcement officials for inconveniencing Webb and the six others who spent 15 years in detention is "legally possible" if evidence of malice are presented which would suggest that they are equally liable for the unjust prosecution of the wrongfully accused.
Valte added that the overwhelming plans to resolve the Vizconde murders close to twenty years after it was committed by still unidentified assailants remain realistic for she was of the belief that the authorities are not entirely back to square one in their search for the elusive truth behind the massacre.
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