Vizconde to spend holidays in cemetery with slain family

In the wake of a Supreme Court decision to acquit seven men accused of killing his family, Vizconde patriarch Lauro will spend Christmas and New Year at a Quezon City cemetery where his wife and two daughters are buried. Vizconde said late Saturday he wants to recall the good times he had with his wife and children when they were still alive. “Dinadalhan ko sila ng bulaklak, nag-offer ako ng prayers at nagla-light ako ng candle... Oo, maghapon I am there," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio. He said he is likely to follow the same routine on New Year’s Day, as he had done so since 1992. Vizconde lost his wife Estrellita and daughters Carmela and Jennifer in June 1991, who were brutally stabbed to death and were found in morning of June 30. Lauro was abroad the time his family was killed. On Dec. 14, Hubert Webb and six others, who were accused of the crime, walked out of the New Bilibid Prison, after the Supreme Court argued that prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. On Saturday, Lauro said he had recovered from the shock of the acquittal. The Vizconde patriarch who fainted after learning of the high court’s decision claimed money changed hands for the decision. Still, he welcomed the call by the Justice Department to reinvestigate the case. With his upcoming visits to his slain family members’ graves, he would at least feel they are a whole again. “I feel like we are a complete family although they are physically absent. Ginugunita ko na lang ang araw ng Pasko kami magkakasama, nagdiriwang, nagsasaya. Doon paparamdam ko sa kanila... kahit wala na sila gusto ko sila gunitain," he said. Palace calls for re-investigation Malacañang insisted over the weekend its order to re-investigate the 19-year Vizconde massacre does not go against the Supreme Court’s acquittal of Webb and his co-accused. Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the order was not to defy the judiciary but to fulfill the State’s duty to make sure crimes do not go unpunished. “Hindi po, hindi po. Ang re-investigation, it’s the reopening of the case. Napagusapan natin ito in the past few months hindi pupuwedeng maging subject ng re-opening of the investigation ‘yung sina Webb at grupong ‘yan dahil sa principle of double jeopardy," she said on government-run dzRB radio. “Ang tanong ng marami sino ang pumatay? ‘Yan ang object ng pag-reopen ng investigation, sino ang nasa likod ng karumal-dumal na krimen na ito," she added. Valte insisted the order was necessary, because it will galvanize government agencies involved in the investigation. She noted the prescriptive period of the case – 20 years – will end in June 2011. “Dahil doon sa naging decision ng Korte Suprema sa pag-acquit kina Hubert Webb and Tony Boy Lejano et al obviously the crime committed against the Vizcondes remains unsolved. Dahil ganoon na ‘yan at limited ang time, duty ng ating pamahalaan na siguraduhin kung sino ang gumawa ng krimen ay idadala natin sa hustisya," she said. “Alam natin very limited ang time, ang prescriptive period to expire in less than six months. It’s more of a concerted effort para mapagalaw ang lahat na ahensya sa subject na ito to meet the deadline," she added. — VS, GMANews.TV