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Govt has until June 2011 to file new cases for Vizconde massacre


If the government uncovers the identities of the suspects in the high-profile 1991 Vizconde massacre, it only has until June 30, 2011, or six months from now, to lodge new cases, legal experts said on Wednesday. The Revised Penal Code (RPC) dictates that crimes like the Vizconde massacre carry a "prescription period" of 20 years. A prescription period sets the limit for filing charges from the time that the crime occurred. "Crimes punishable by reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment) shall prescribe in 20 years," says Article 90 of the RPC. The murders of Estrellita Vizconde, 47, and her daughters Carmela, 18 and Jennifer, 7, happened on June 30, 1991. After the Supreme Court (SC) acquitted Hubert Webb and six other convicts in the Vizconde massacre on Tuesday, the government then has around six months — or until June 30, 2011 — to find the culprits and file charges against them. "After 20 years, you can no longer prosecute because if the offense was committed in 1991... no charges can be filed anymore after June 30, 2011," said SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez. Theodore Te, University of the Philippines law professor, underscored the urgency of filing new cases should the government track down new suspects in the case. "If they're going to come up with a new set of suspects, they better do that quickly. They better charge quickly," he added. Call for reinvestigation Earlier in the day, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she is inclined to order the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a new fact-finding investigation to determine who were indeed responsible for the Vizconde murders. However, De Lima said the 20-year prescription mandated by the law will give her office an additional "pressure" to find the suspects and file cases against them. Vizconde massacre timeline Estrellita, Carmela, and Jennifer Vizconde were murdered in their Paranaque home on June 30, 1991. However, it was only in 1995 when the government filed charges against Hubert Webb, Antonio Lejano, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Hospicio Fernandez, Peter Estrada, former policeman Gerardo Biong, Artemio Ventura, and Joey Filart. Paranaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274 Presiding Judge Amelita Tolentino tried the case and eventually convicted seven of them in January 2000. The trial court had no decision on Ventura and Filart because they went into hiding and were never arragined. Te explained that an accused must first be arraigned before he can be prosecuted. Webb later sought redress from the Court of Appeals, but the appellate court sustained the guilty verdict against the seven. In 2007, Webb elevated the matter to the Supreme Court and asked for a review of the rulings of the Paranaque court and the CA. On Tuesday, the SC reversed the two lower courts' findings and acquitted Webb and his six co-accused. The SC took no action on Ventura and Filart because they remained at large and have not been tried yet. From October 1991 to June 1993, authorities arrested suspects and brought them to court. However, the cases against the two sets of suspects were dismissed for lack of evidence. What about Ventura and Filart? Citing the Revised Penal Code, Marquez and Te agreed that while Ventura and Filart have not been prosecuted yet, the case against them still stands because they were slapped with charges during the 20-year prescription period. "Charges have been filed against [Filart and Ventura] but the Paranaque court did not acquire jurisdiction over them. So in that case, the 20-year period stalls," said Marquez. "As far as the two are concerned, there is still time to prosecute them," added Te. Article 91 of the Revised Penal Code says that "the period of prescription shall commence to run from the day on which the crime is discovered by the offended party, the authorities, or their agents, and shall be interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information." Applied to the case of Webb and his co-accused, the prescription period began on June 30, 1991 and stopped in 1995, when the government filed charges with the Paranaque court. – VVP, GMANews.TV

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