ON JUNE 30, 1991, a most gruesome incident occured in Lauro Vizconde’s household while he was in the United States on a business trip. His wife, Estrellita, 47 and daughters Carmela, 18 and Jennifer, 7 and were all stabbed to death. Findings also revealed that Carmela was raped before she was killed.
The multiple homicide was so sensationalized, it was considered as the “case of the century” and led to the accusation of Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, son of former basketball player, actor and politician Freddie Webb, along with seven others — Antonio Lejano, Artemio Ventura, Michael Gatchalian, Hospicio Fernandez, Peter Estrada, Miguel Rodriguez and Joey Filart, all belonging to well-off and prominent families – as the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Parañaque policeman Gerardo Biong was also convicted for tampering with evidence in the crime scene.
However, Joey Filart and Artemio Ventura were never arrested and still remain at large. Hubert Webb and the rest of the co-accused were convicted by the Parañaque Regional Trial Court with the affirmation of the Court of Appeals.
15 years later, on December 14, 2010, the Philippine Supreme Court reversed the earlier judgment of the lower court and Court of Appeals, acquitting Hubert Webb et. al “for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
Hubert and his family hailed the decision, while Lauro Vizconde broke down in anguish – if Hubert and the co-accused have been declared innocent, then who should be held responsible for the death of his entire family?
Justice has failed, yet again. It is evident that because initial investigations made proved inefficient, the judicial system has bungled in its decision-making as well.
19 years after the massacre, Lauro Vizconde continues to live in the shadow of his family’s death, with the hope of finding the real murderers deflating everyday. By Philippine law, there is a 20-year prescriptive period for prosecution and Lauro Vizconde has less than a year to resolve the case.
Malacañang has given a directive to several agencies to solve the Vizconde massacre case in six months.
Meanwhile, Hubert et al, if truly innocent, have already wasted 15 years of their lives in prison and will be living with the stigma of being former convicts for the rest of their lives.
As long as the case remains unresolved, whoever is responsible for the Vizconde deaths is still out there. If the remaining time from the 20-year prescription period fails to uncover the real suspect in the Vizconde murders, the ghosts of injustice and incompetence will continue to haunt us for years to come.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend Dec 18-21 Sec A p.12)
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