WEBB IN PHL DURING MASSACRE, SAYS 6 WITNESSES / DE LIMA, RECKLESS AND IRRESPONSIBLE
[PHOTO - HUBERT WEBB- RELEASED & ACQUITTED LAST YEAR]
MANILA, JUNE 30, 2011 (STAR) By Edu Punay and Sandy Araneta - Hubert Webb was in the Philippines during the Vizconde massacre, six witnesses have told authorities, but he can no longer face trial.
Webb's father, former senator Freddie Webb, yesterday slammed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for claiming that Hubert concocted an alibi to make it appear that he was out of the country during the massacre in 1991.
"I can't imagine they (NBI) can do such a wicked, evil act and get away with it. This is incredible," Webb remarked.
Webb vowed to fight the NBI, which in its report said his son Hubert could have committed the crime and concocted the alibi as a defense.
Webb pointed out that no less than the Supreme Court (SC) last year acquitted his son, along with six others, of the crime for lack of evidence.
"This is painful to us – what they are doing. But we will fight back. We've been aggrieved and what they are doing is disrespectful to the decision of the Supreme Court. Does it mean they're better than the Supreme Court?" Webb lamented.
The NBI released yesterday its reinvestigation report of the celebrated case, two days before the 20-year prescription period lapses.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima presented the inter-agency report made by the NBI, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The inter-agency report revealed Hubert Webb was in the country when the family of Lauro Vizconde was massacred inside their house in Parañaque City on June 30, 1991.
De Lima said they have six witnesses who saw Webb and the other accused in Parañaque in the months before the massacre.
De Lima, however, admitted the investigation could not place Webb and the rest of the accused "in the scene of the crime."
De Lima was also quick to add that Webb and co-accused Antonio Lejano, Hospicio Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, and Peter Estrada cannot be charged with the same offense under the double jeopardy rule.
The Supreme Court acquitted Webb and co-accused from the charges in December 2010. Former Parañaque policeman Gerardo Biong, who was charged as an accessory, was also acquitted. They were all released after over a decade in prison.
'False'
De Lima declared as "false" the defense of alibi put up by Webb. She noted the SC anchored the acquittal of Webb and his co-accused on the alibi but lamented they can no longer run after them because of double jeopardy.
"We believe that the evidence that is now (with us) rebut, negate, destroy or shatter the defense of alibi," De Lima told the news conference.
De Lima said the findings of the task force relied heavily on the six witnesses interviewed by the NBI.
Notwithstanding the report, De Lima said the task force was mandated to "ferret out the truth" behind the massacre.
"That's all that it has established so far," she said.
President Aquino had ordered a reinvestigation of the case following the SC acquittal of Webb and the other accused.
The task force was created by De Lima with orders to fast-track the probe, noting the prescriptive period of 20 years in which to file a case.
De Lima admitted that despite serious efforts by the task force's three teams, they found no "credible and confirmed evidence" that would place Webb and the other co-accused at the scene of the crime.
She said no witness came out to place any of the suspects at the scene of the crime at the time of the incident.
But these witnesses attested to the fact that Webb was in the country during the material period, she said.
De Lima said four new witnesses even claimed they saw Webb in the country during the months of April, May and June of 1991.
This contradicted the stamp of departure on the passport of Webb which indicated that he left the country on March 9, 1991, or a few months before Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela and Jennifer were stabbed inside their BF Homes residence in Parañaque early on June 30, 1991. There was also evidence that Carmela was raped.
"These are real witnesses – we know their names, addresses. We talked to them except for one who was sick. We talked to them to further verify what they claimed in their respective sworn statements. But for security reasons, we decided just to give them aliases," said De Lima.
De Lima identified them as alias Pitong, George, Rey, Mario, Jerry and Jack.
She also added the witnesses do not know each other before they were traced by the task force.
She assured the public that the new witnesses have no reason or motive to fabricate their respective statements.
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 Bureau of Immigration (BI).
The MRT is a magnetic tape of the BI where all records of incoming and outgoing passengers from the Philippines are recorded.
She said the MRT showed no Hubert Webb or any of the accused going out the country before or during the massacre.
"And no entry also appears in any of the computer printout of MRT for entire year 1991. There was entry of (former senator) Freddie Webb leaving the country in March 1991 but no Hubert Webb," De Lima said.
She said the same MRT provided data that several Webbs arrived in the country, including Hubert, sometime in October 1992.
"It is hard to believe this – there is a record of supposed arrival from other country but no record of departure in 1991 or in any month of 1991," she said.
'Black Maria'
De Lima revealed the first breakthrough in the re-investigation of the case was the discovery of a woman they called "Black Maria."
The woman was supposedly in the company of Webb and the other accused on the night of the massacre.
Based on the testimony of Black Maria, it was not then NBI star witness Jessica Alfaro who was at the crime scene.
De Lima, however, lamented Black Maria denied being at the scene during the time of the massacre, although there were other witnesses who pointed to her.
The descriptions given by these witnesses of the woman who accompanied Webb and the other accused at the time of the massacre jibe with the looks of Black Maria, De Lima said.
De Lima also mentioned the findings of the PNP led by Superintendent Joel Coronel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
Coronel said their findings point to another set of suspects, namely Dong Villadolid and his brother Bing.
He said a witness "Dang" had named Gatchalian and Rodriguez as among the suspects.
De Lima believed Dong Villadolid is the same person as Dong Ventura, one of the co-accused who fled to the US following the massacre. Another accused, Joey Filart also fled to the United States.
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 explained the prescriptive period of a crime is suspended if the suspect flees the country.
"But the problem is that Dang was never also at the scene of the crime," De Lima lamented.
Face saving
On the other hand, Webb disputed the findings in his belief that the new witnesses were created by the NBI as a face saving effort.
Webb said Alfaro, the NBI's former star witness, had been branded by the SC as incredible.
"What happens to NBI now that they have witnesses saying Jessica was not there (in the crime scene)? This is all NBI's fabrication," Webb said.
Webb said he would immediately meet his lawyers to plan their move, including the possibility of challenging the NBI's new witnesses.
"Where are these witnesses? We have to cross examine them before the NBI can say they are credible," he said.
Webb also questioned why authorities would still question results of the forensic test that showed the passport used by Hubert in leaving for the US before the crime was authentic.
"There's record of my son's arrival in the US. They should have checked that. Why did these people (new witnesses) come out just now?" he insisted.
Webb's lawyer Demetrio Custodio also disputed the findings of the NBI.
Custodio said the findings that claimed his client could have been in the country at the time of the massacre were intended to sow intrigue.
Custodio said the younger Webb was "very sad" and became upset about the NBI findings.
"To us the findings (were) completely wrong. There was evidence that Hubert arrived in the US on March 9. How come he never left?" Custodio said.
He said the evidence showing that Webb was in the US was even certified by the US immigration service.
He also questioned the motive of the investigation's new witnesses, who claimed seeing Webb in the country before and after the crime was committed.
"I don't know what to call it but the result is undesired. This, despite the final ruling of the Supreme Court. Now, Hubert has to defend himself again," Custodio said.
Custodio said the NBI evidence should have been presented during the trial.
"Now how can Hubert defend himself?" he asked.
Vindicated
For his part, Lauro Vizconde said the findings proved his belief that Webb and his group were behind the killing of his wife and children. He said he was not wrong in accusing Webb.
Although admitting they can no longer run after Webb and the other accused in the case, Vizconde said he is only after the truth to come out. He said he is vindicated and happy with the results of the reinvestigation.
"I am very happy. We would like to tell the public that I did not make a mistake in pointing to Hubert and his group," Vizconde said.
"I cannot see any motive for other people who might have done that to my family. But I cannot see any motive or reason except for Hubert who has the motive to do this to my family," he said.
Vizconde also announced a Mass would be held Thursday at the scene where his family was killed 20 years ago. With Aie Balagtas See
FROM MALAYA
Senators rake De Lima over the coals on Webb BY JP LOPEZ and ASHZEL HACHERO
SEVERAL senators yesterday criticized Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for "crucifying" acquitted murder suspect Hubert Jeffrey Webb and his group in the 1991 Vizconde massacre, and the Webb family said it is considering moving for De Lima's disbarment.
Webb lawyer Demetrio Custodio called De Lima "completely reckless and irresponsible."
"What happened yesterday (Tuesday) is something we can't let pass. It is unprecedented in so far as the government and its branches are concerned…It was a public declaration that to our mind completely subverted the authority of the Supreme Court," Custodio said in a press conference in Makati City attended by Webb, his father former senator Freddie Webb, mother Elizabeth and brother Fritz.
Freddie Webb challenged the NBI to name the new witnesses in the name of fair play.
"Bigyan n'yo naman kami ng pagkakataon, bigyan ninyo kami ng mga pangalan at kami naman ang magpapa-imbestiga," he added.
De Lima on Tuesday said findings of Task Force Vizconde, which includes the NBI, show Webb was in the country when the killing of Estrellita Vizconde and daughters Carmela and Jennifer occurred in June 1991, shattering his defense that he was in the US during the killings.
She said there were also testimonies from six new witnesses who said Webb was in the country at that time. But she was quick to add that there is "no credible and confirmed evidence, whether testimonial or otherwise," that would place Webb at the scene of the crime."
Senators asked why she had to make the disclosures when Webb and his co-accused, acquitted with finality in December last year by the Supreme Court, could no longer be charged.
Under the statute of limitations, the government has only up to today to take action on the case,
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said De Lima achieved nothing but "to be seen on TV and in the newspapers at the expense of the same people who cannot be prosecuted anyway under the principle of double jeopardy."
Sen. Francis Escudero said he did not see the "logic" of wasting government resources in coming out with information that could not be used in court.
He said that aside from wasting efforts and government resources, what the justice department actually achieved was to give "false hopes" to those seeking justice, and "besmirch the reputation of some people…for what purpose and to what end, I honestly don't know and understand."
Senate majority leader Vicente Sotto III said De Lima's action would affect her confirmation when she faces the Commission on Appointments.
Lacson said he himself suffered from De Lima's "insatiable thirst for publicity" when the justice secretary maintained that Lacson could still be held accountable in the murders of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito more than a decade ago.
This despite the ruling of the Court of Appeals junking the charges against Lacson because of uncorroborated statement of former police officer Cesar Mancao II.
Lacson has vowed to grill De Lima when her appointment is tackled by the Commission on Appointments.
Freddie Webb, at the press conference, showed his son's passport and US driver's license, which was stamped June 14, 1991. He said a United States driver's license will not be issued if the person is not physically present.
The Webb family also questioned the magnetic reel tapes used by investigators that allegedly did not have the name Webb in the passenger manifest for his departure. However, the same reel showed Hubert did arrive in 1992.
"If he arrived, then tell us when he (Hubert) left for the US, tell us. Give us the date of his (Hubert's) departure,"" Freddie said.
Hubert said they are too tired to go through the process again.
"I am trying to love a normal life and up to now these cruel and evil people have been doing the same thing…they have destroyed our family. I hope they will stop their lies and have pity on themselves," he said.
"These people have destroyed our family. Saan kami ngayon pupunta para sa hustisya?" he added.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said they are prepared to defend De Lima against those accusing her of electioneering, dishonesty, and laziness when she is merely doing her job of getting the truth of the Vizconde massacre.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte dismissed allegations she is only preparing for her possible political bid in 2013. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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