Jessica Alfaro not banned from witness protection program

(Updated 5:16 p.m.) Jessica Alfaro, the "star witness" in the 1991 Vizconde massacre case but whose credibility was questioned by the Supreme Court, could still seek protection from the government through the Witness Protection Program (WPP), Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Wednesday. That is if Alfaro will return to the Philippines and help in the reinvestigation on the killings of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela and Jennifer Vizconde on June 30, 1991, De Lima said. De Lima said there have been efforts to convince Alfaro, who is reportedly in Canada, to return to the Philippines. "Of course, the primary concern is the security and safety of Jessica. So I had to assure that we are ready to cover her again under the WPP if she decides to come back," De Lima told reporters after her meeting with Lauro Vizconde, widower and father of the victims. Reinvestigation De Lima, a lawyer by profession, heads the inter-agency panel reinvestigating the Vizconde massacre. President Benigno Aquino III ordered the reinvestigation after the Supreme Court, last December 14, acquitted the seven men who were convicted in January 2000 for the killings. Among those acquitted was Hubert Webb, son of former Senator Freddie Webb. The others were Antonio Lejano, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Hospicio Fernandez, Peter Estrada, and former policeman Gerardo Biong. De Lima said it will be best for Alfaro to return to the Philippines and regain her credibility, which was maligned and questioned by the Supreme Court in its decision. "Mas maganda talaga kung makakabalik si Jessica if mapapanindigan niya ang story niya. If that is her version of the truth, then mas maganda na bumalik siya so she can retell her story," De Lima said. (It is best for Jessica to return so she can stand by her story. If that is her version of the truth, then it will be best for her to come back so she can retell her story.) SC vs Alfaro In its ruling, the SC described Alfaro’s testimony as “incoherent, if not inherently unbelievable." The SC said Alfaro was not an eyewitness but merely a government asset who claimed that she saw the Vizconde massacre first hand. The high court also lent credence to an earlier testimony by the late government agent Artemio Sacaguing, who said Alfaro volunteered to play out the role of the eyewitness after she failed to produce the actual witness to the Vizconde killings. “Since Alfaro hung out at the [National Bureau of Investigation] offices and practically lived there, it was not too difficult for her to hear of these evidentiary details and gain access to the documents," the SC said. “Her story lacks sense or suffers from incoherent inconsistencies. An understanding of the nature of things and the common behavior of people will help expose a lie. And it has an abundant presence in this case," the court added. The SC further said: “She (Alfaro) was, at the time she revealed her story, working for the NBI as an ‘asset,’ a stool pigeon, one who earned her living by fraternizing with criminals so she could squeal on them to her NBI handlers. She had to live a life of lies to get rewards that would pay for her subsistence and vices." Ex-NBI men defend Alfaro Also on Wednesday, two former NBI personnel attested to Alfaro's credibility. Speaking to reporters, former NBI deputy director Pedro Rivera said he was "morally convinced" that Alfaro was telling the truth. Rivera headed the bureau's Task Force Jecares, the body that first looked into the Vizconde murders. It was the same task force that got Alfaro as the key witness against Webb's group. "We have one or two companions who did not see the crime scene and who said Jessica's testimony was not credible. But how can they evaluate a witness' testimony when they did not even see the crime scene?" Rivera asked. "I was morally certain that Jessica was telling the truth, so I was shocked to find out that our Supreme Court was deciding on facts. It is the venue to decide laws, but not the venue to decide facts," he added. For his part, former NBI agent Crescencio Nombres Jr. said Alfaro, whom he said was his childhood friend, was not an NBI asset. "Hindi siya nagta-trabaho sa NBI (She did not work for the NBI). She was not paid. An NBI asset gets paid," said Nombres. - KBK, GMANews.TV