De Lima: Govt can't extradite yet star witness in Vizconde massacre

The Philippine government cannot yet move for the extradition of Jessica Alfaro, the so-called star witness in the 1991 Vizconde massacre case, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Monday. De Lima said there is no pending case against Alfaro that would merit extradition proceedings against her. Alfaro is reportedly hiding in Canada and had refused to testify in the government's reinvestigation of the Vizconde massacre case. "We can't extradite her, because extradition presupposes the existence of criminal proceedings. I'm not aware of criminal proceedings involving Jessica Alfaro," De Lima told reporters. She added that so far, the government can only convince her to return to the country through "connections" to her. "We're banking on those with connections to her to convince her," said the Justice chief. Over the weekend, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Alfaro is not willing to testify again. "I don't want to get involved in that, I don't want to testify anymore," the broadsheet's source quoted Alfaro as saying. De Lima heads the inter-agency panel conducting the reinvestigation of the massacre. The new inquiry was spurred by the Supreme Court's recent acquittal of the suspects in killings of Estrellita, 47, Carmela, 18, and Jennifer Vizconde, 7, in June 1991. Those who were acquitted were 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 has repeatedly said it will be best for Alfaro to return to the Philippines and regain her credibility, which was questioned by the Supreme Court in its decision. 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 National Bureau of Investigation asset who claimed that she saw the Vizconde massacre first hand. The high court also lent credence to an earlier testimony by the late NBI 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. Webb's camp said it will sue Alfaro for perjury for the supposed false testimonies she made before the Paranaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274, which convicted Webb and six others in 2000. – VVP, GMANews.TV