De Lima: No proof that Webb et al were at Vizconde crime scene
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Tuesday that they still have no proof that would place acquitted Vizconde massacre suspect Hubert Webb and his companions at the scene of the crime even after a thorough reinvestigation. "We found no credible and confimed evidence, whether testimonial or otherwise that would place Hubert Webb and company at the scene of the crime," De Lima told reporters during a a press briefing at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, however, the NBI said their reinvestigation revealed that acquitted Webb was in the country during the time of the murder contrary to his previous claim. NBI Death Investigation Division head Romulo Asis said technical evidence from the Bureau of Immigration and the sworn statements of seven witnesses contradicted Webb's claim that he went out of the country on March 1991. "It would be safe to assume Webb never departed form the Philippines in the month of March 1991," he said during a press briefing at the NBI headquarters on Tuesday. Malacañang in December ordered a reinvestigation of the Vizconde massacre after the Supreme Court acquitted Hubert Webb and six others who had been earlier convicted by a lower court of the murders of Estrellita, Carmela, and Jennifer Vizconde on June 30, 1991. The government task force, led by the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, has at least three sets of suspects, including Hubert Webb and his former co-accused and fellow convicts in the celebrated case. - VVP, GMA News