Ex-VP Guingona intervenes in Vizconde appeal to SC

Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr on Friday went to the Supreme Court to intervene in the Vizconde massacre case, more than three weeks after the high tribunal acquitted seven men for the crime. Guingona filed a motion to intervene asking the SC to reverse its acquittal of Hubert Webb, son of former Sen. Freddie Webb, and six others: Antonio Lejano, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Hospicio Fernandez, Peter Estrada, and former policeman Gerardo Biong. Lauro Vizconde, who lost his wife and two daughters in the January 1991 murders, earlier filed a motion for reconsideration seeking to overturn the high court's December 14, 2010 acquittal. Earlier interventions Prior to Guingona, four of Vizconde's supporters intervened in the case to ask for a reconsideration of the court's ruling. 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. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV