SC not entertaining Vizconde’s ‘bare, unsubstantiated’ allegations

Unless widower Lauro Vizconde has substantial proof that bribery and lobbying were involved in the handling of the Vizconde massacre case, the Supreme Court will not entertain such “bare" and “unsubstantiated" allegations. “These are all bare allegations, and experience tells us bare allegations are not considered by the Court... The court will not initiate its own investigation, not on bare, unsubstantiated allegations," said SC spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Marquez at a news briefing on Wednesday. Marquez advised Vizconde to refrain from making accusations publicly if these are not backed by solid proof. “Let’s put a stop to all this. This is the last time I’m going to comment on this issue, unless of course, something substantial is presented," he said. He was reacting to Vizconde’s accusation that SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio lobbied for the acquittal of the seven suspects in the massacre of his family in June 1991. The Supreme Court acquitted the seven, which included Hubert Webb, son of former Senator Freddie Webb. Vizconde made the accusation last November, a month before the acquittal of Webb and company. Carpio inhibited from the deliberations. Vizconde also said he was informed of a P50-million “lobby fund" allegedly allotted for justices who will vote in favor of Webb and the men previously convicted for the crime. The high court had ordered Vizconde and his lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, to show proof of their allegations, but they declined to do so, saying they were keen on protecting their sources. Threatened to be penalized for indirect contempt of the court, Vizconde said it was Chief Justice Renato Corona who told him of Carpio’s alleged lobbying. Corona, through Marquez, denied the allegation. More recently, Vizconde claimed that in 2006, when the Court of Appeals was still reviewing the Parañaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274’s conviction of Webb and the others, there was strong lobbying in the appellate court in favor of Webb’s acquittal. Vizconde said the source of his information was then CA justice Jose Mendoza, who is now with the Supreme Court and who was among those who voted for the acquittal of Webb and the others. P50-M lobby money Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Vizconde also claimed that Mendoza also informed him of the supposed lobby fund allotted for those who will vote in favor of Webb. He said the two CA justices who dissented and voted to acquit Webb — former CA justices Lucenito Tagle (now a Commission on Elections commissioner) and Renato Dacudao — may have received favors. “Ang lobby money, according to my source, is P50 million. And two justices ang nag-dissent. I’m sure the reason why they dissented ay siguro tumanggap sila ng pabor (is maybe because they received favors)," Vizconde said. Reacting to this, Marquez said he spoke with Mendoza, who denied speaking with Vizconde. Marquez also said that SC Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin has denied speaking with Vizconde when he was still at the Court of Appeals. “I’ve personally spoken to the justices concerned and these are all inaccurate statements," said Marquez. - KBK, GMA News