Lauro Vizconde appeals SC acquittal of Webb, 6 others

UPDATED 4:30 p.m. - Lauro Vizconde has sought the reversal of the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling that acquitted the seven men previously convicted for the murders of his wife and two daughters almost 20 years ago. In an 84-page motion for reconsideration, Vizconde asked the SC to recall and submit for re-deliberation its ruling on December 14 this year that acquitted Hubert Webb, son of former Sen. Freddie Webb; Antonio Lejano; Michael Gatchalian; Miguel Rodriguez; Hospicio Fernandez; Peter Estrada, and former policeman Gerardo Biong. No double jeopardy Vizconde filed the motion for reconsideration even though SC's spokesman and administrator, Jose Midas Marquez, earlier explained that appealing the SC's ruling will subject the acquitted men to "double jeopardy." The Philippine Constitution prohibits double jeopardy or being tried twice for the same offense. However, Vizconde said his appeal is exempted from the double jeopardy prohibition because the Supreme Court has previously allowed the appeal of the acquittal of those involved in the 1983 killings of former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and Rolando Galman. "In Galman v. Sandiganbayan, the Honorable Supreme Court gave due course to the second motion for reconsideration filed by the private complainant, some legal luminaries, and prominent taxpayers... The soldiers were again incarcerated, indicted, and subsequently convicted by the Sandiganbayan," said Vizconde. "Another exception to the rule on double jeopardy... was recognized in light of the concerned court's grave abuse of discretion," he added. However, Webb's lawyer said Vizconde's camp cannot invoke the Aquino-Galman case. In a phone interview with GMANews.TV on Wednesday, lawyer Demetrio Custodio said "once an accused has been acquitted, he cannot be prosecuted again." "The only exception to that is that there is no double jeopardy if there is a void judgment. In this case, there is no void judgment. And therefore, the rule against double jeopardy prevents the filing of a motion for reconsideration," Custodio said. A University of the Philippines law professor also said Vizconde cannot invoke Galman case in seeking an exemption from the double jeopardy prohibition. "Aquino-Galman cannot apply because the Supreme Court held it was a mistrial and that the accused were in no danger of first jeopardy. The facts showed that [former President Ferdinand] Marcos orchestrated everything to ensure acquittal," said UP law professor Theodore Te, who also teaches criminal law. Credibility of Jessica Alfaro In his motion, Vizconde said the SC committed a "grave error" when it concluded that star witness Jessica Alfaro was not a credible witness. Alfaro's testimony was the basis for the Parañaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274's conviction of Webb and the six others in January 2000. The Court of Appeals sustained the guilty verdict in December 2005. "It appears that, right from the start, this Honorable Court had been inclined to believe the alibis of the accused, especially Hubert Webb's... and it was not convinced of the trial court's finding that Jessica Alfaro was a credible witness," Vizconde said. "This court must not give any reason for people to doubt its appreciation of facts and the evidence, its conclusion of facts and law, and its cold impartiality," he said. "At the very least, there must be a re-deliberation of the case." When Vizconde filed his appeal on Wednesday, he was accompanied by his counsel, Public Attorney's Office head Persida Rueda-Acosta, a distant relative. Acosta's office provides legal assistance to poor litigants. Acosta said her office is representing Vizconde because he is an indigent, having lost his source of income. Acosta said their camp has eight new witnesses, three of whom are the following:

Pedro Rivera, the former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director who headed Task Force Jecares, the body that first looked into the June 30, 1991 murders of Jennifer, Carmela, and Estrellita Vizconde;

Cresencio Nombres Jr., a former NBI employee and Alfaro's childhood friend; and

Erwin Erfe, a forensic expert who conducted a behavioral evidence analysis of Alfaro's testimony and forensic analysis of Alfaro's testimony and autopsy findings. Also on Wednesday, Acosta asked Justice Sec. Leila de Lima to have the eight witnesses covered under the Witness Protection Program. Motion to intervene Four of Vizconde's supporters intervened in the case to ask for a reconsideration of the court's ruling on Wednesday. These are: activist priest Robert Reyes, Sister Mary John Mananzan of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), Bishop Evangelio Mercado, and Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption. According to them, while they may not be parties to the case, they believe that Webb and six of his co-accused are guilty. "There is something bigger than the Supreme Court. Truth is not the absolute property of the Supreme Court. Rather, it is the people's. The court of last appeals is not the Supreme Court but the Filipino people," said Reyes at a news briefing on Wednesday. SC decision Voting 7-4-4, the SC on December 14 acquitted Hubert Webb and the six other persons implicated in the Vizconde massacre case. The SC cited the unreliability of the testimony of star witness Jessica Alfaro and the failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the convicts beyond reasonable doubt. Former policeman Biong was convicted for supposedly being an accessory for destroying evidence in the case. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail, but was released early this month after having served his punishment in full. Two other co-accused, Artemio Ventura and Joey Filart, were never arraigned in court and have remained at large. Massacre case in 1991 Webb was accused of raping Carmela Vizconde, 18, who was killed in her family's Parañaque home on June 30, 1991. Her mother, Estrellita, 47, and sister, Jennifer, 7, were also killed. Webb was among the nine people convicted by Parañaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274 Presiding Judge Amelita Tolentino in January 2000 for the killings. The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction in December 2005. Tolentino is now an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals. – VVP, GMANews.TV