MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court, voting 7-4 with four other justices taking no part, Tuesday acquitted Hubert Webb and six others charged with the murder of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters, Carmela and Jennifer, in 1991.

Also acquitted by the SC were Antonio Lejano Jr., Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Hospicio Fernandez, Peter Estrada, and Gerardo Biong.

The Webb family expressed gratitude to the SC for the vindication, while Vizconde expressed dismay over the decision.

“Walang katarungan sa bansa natin,” said Vizconde, who almost lost consciousness and was grasping for words upon learning about the SC verdict. (“There's no justice in our country.”)

In absolving the seven accused in the 19-year-old multiple murder case, the High Court cited the failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Court Administrator and SC Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the majority decision essentially gave no credence to the testimonies of prosecution witnesses, particularly Jessica Alfaro.

“Basically, the majority is questioning the quality of witnesses presented like Jessica Alfaro’s being an NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) agent and not really an eyewitness, suspicious details in her testimonies, the quality of testimonies showed inherent inconsistencies and the supposed corroboration cannot be relied on,” Marquez said.

“There is reasonable and lingering doubt on the guilt of the accused,” he added.

The SC overturned the 2000 conviction ruling handed down by the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court, which was later on upheld by the Court of Appeals (CA).

Webb and his co-accused were sentenced to life imprisonment by the RTC.

Except for Biong who was already freed last month, the five others were ordered released from the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City. All of them have been detained since 1995.

“They should be released soon unless they are held for any other unlawful cause,” Marquez told a press conference.

He said the decision is immediately executory as the court will no longer entertain a motion for reconsideration in the case.

“There is no more motion for reconsideration can be filed. That would be tantamount to double jeopardy,” Marquez said, noting that a second prosecution under the same offense after acquittal or conviction is prohibited under the law.

Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad wrote the majority decision to which Associate Justices Conchita Carpio Morales, Diosdado M. Peralta, Lucas P. Bersamin, Jose P. Perez, Jose C. Mendoza, and Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno agreed.

Chief Justice Renato C. Corona concurred with the dissenting opinion penned by Associate Justice Martin S. Villarama Jr., as did Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro and Arturo D. Brion.

Associate Justices Antonio T. Carpio, Mariano C. del Castillo, Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., and Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura inhibited. Justice Carpio testified in defense of Webb during the Vizconde massacre trial.

Marquez said the Court also took into consideration the testimonial and documentary evidence presented by the defense proving that Webb was in the United States when the massacre happened.

In 2000, the Parañaque court convicted Webb and five other scions of rich families of murder and rape based on Alfaro’s testimony.

Their conviction was affirmed by the CA, prompting them to bring their case before the SC.

Earlier this year, the SC ordered to subject to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test the semen taken from the body of Carmela. But the Court changed its mind after the NBI could no longer produce the specimen.

The then 19-year-old Carmela was reportedly raped before being killed along with her mother Estrellita and seven-year-old sister Jennifer in their Parañaque home on June 29, 1991.

In the 38-page majority decision, the SC doubted the credibility of Alfaro’s story even as it described her as “lying witness.”

Alfaro, a confessed former drug addict, had testified that she knew the suspects and was at the Vizconde house when Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela and Jennifer were killed on June 29, 1991.

By Alfaro’s account, after a drug session with the group, Webb had hatched his plan to rape Carmela.

But the SC found that Alfaro was an NBI asset who merely volunteered to act out the role of an eyewitness.

The High Court even insinuated that the NBI coached and manipulated Alfaro’s testimony.

It held: “Alfaro was the NBI’s star witness, their badge of excellent investigative work. After claiming that they had solved the crime of the decade, the NBI people had a stake in making her sound credible and obviously, they gave her all the preparations she needed for the job of becoming a fairly good substitute witness. She was their darling of an asset.”

The Court said Alfaro’s story “lacks sense or suffers from inherent inconsistencies.”

But in his 88-page dissenting opinion, Justice Villarama noted the findings of the RTC and the CA that the eyewitness testimony of Alfaro was credible and competent proof that Webb and other suspects were at the scene of the crime.

Villarama said Alfaro’s testimony on its material points was corroborated by five other witnesses.

“Appellants’ (Webb and co-accused) presence at the scene of the crime before, during and after its commission was duly established. Their respective participation, acts and declarations were likewise detailed by Alfaro who was shown to be a credible witness,” he said.

Villarama said Webb’s defense of “alibi” that he was in the US from March 9, 1991 to October 26, 1992 “is inherently weak.”

“Given the financial resources and political influence of his family, it was not unlikely that Webb could have traveled back to the Philippines before June 29-30, 1991 and then departed for the US again, and returning to the Philippine in October 1992,” Villarama said.

“There clearly exists, therefore, such possibility of Webb’s presence at the scene of the crime at the time of its commission, and his excuse cannot be deemed airtight,” he added.

According to Villarama, Webb’s travel documents and other supposed paper trail of his stay in the US were “unreliable proof of his absence in the Philippines at the time of the commission of the crime charged.”

He said: “The non-submission in evidence of his original passport, which was not formally offered and made part of the records, had deprived the RTC, CA, and this Court the opportunity to examine the same. Such original is a crucial piece of evidence which unfortunately was placed beyond judicial scrutiny.”

Based his own findings, Villarama said the existence of conspiracy among the accused was “satisfactorily proven by the prosecution.”

Free men

After 15 years, 3 months and 15 days, Vizconde accused Webb, Estrada, Fernandez, Gatchalian, Lejano, and Rodriguez became free men.

“Salamat sa Diyos (Thank God)”, Hubert told reporters, adding he still could not believe that he was now free.

At exactly 3:55 p.m. Tuesday, Webb and five others walked out of the New Bilibid Prisons as free men.

“Katotohanan na ang lumabas talaga. Hindi kami tumakbo (The truth came out),” Hubert said.

It was an emotional moment as the Webb family and the families of the other accused immediately went to the NBP upon hearing that the Vizconde suspects were acquitted.

Hubert and his brother Jason cried and hugged each other in an emotional moment. The Webb family was there to fetch Hubert. Former Senator Webb was with his wife Elizabeth and children.

It took four hours before Hubert and company were freed as Bureau of Corrections Director Ernesto Diokno had to wait for the copy of the Supreme Court decision and process the release of the prisoners.

At around 12 noon, Hubert was at the office of the Commander of the Guard inside the prison and was seen talking to Pinky de Leon, mother of Lejano.

Celebrities Christopher de Leon and his wife Sandy Andolong were also there to witness the release of Lejano.

One by one, the suspects emerged from the Maximum Security Compound and were brought to the conference room of the NBP to meet the media.

Webb statement

The Webb family issued the following statement:

“We are deeply grateful to the Supreme Court for this vindication. We are also thankful to our lawyers, the Ongkiko Manhit Custodio, and Acorda Law Offices, for joining us in our fight for justice.

“The Supreme Court Justices looked at the evidence and made a judicious decision to uphold the very strong testimonial and documentary evidence, which included Certifications issued by both the U.S. and Philippine governments conforming that Hubert was in the Unites States on the dates when the crime was committed and could not, therefore, have committed the felony. Certainly, official certifications issued by the offices of US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, US Attorney General Janet Reno and our very own Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo, which all attested that Hubert was in the United States from March 6, 1991 until October 26, 1992, are very strong evidence that he was not in the Philippines when the crime was committed on June 29-30, 1991. The Supreme Court Justices also decided correctly in not giving credence to the bogus eyewitness testimony of Jessica Alfaro who has lied several times under oath and has made two contradictory Affidavits, one of which admitted that she did not enter the Vizconde residence and could not, therefore, have been an eyewitness to the crime.

“While we sympathize with Lauro Vizconde for the tragedy suffered by his family, we also believe that his quest for justice should not be done at the expense of the innocent. Our family is pained that Hubert, who was 27 years old when the case began, is now 42 years old and has wasted the prime years of his youth languishing in jail for a crime that he did not commit. Our family would like to ensure that this travesty of justice will not happen again to another Filipino. Thus, those who are responsible for the wrongful incarceration of my son should not be allowed to get away with it with impunity. We will continue with our fight for justice by making those who are responsible to be held liable and fully accountable for the wrong conviction of an innocent man.”

NBI did its best

Lawyer Mariano Mison, the NBI director at the time of the incident, said the bureau did its best when it probed the Vizconde massacre.

“As a professional law enforcer, we did our best in the NBI,” the retired bureau director said.

He further said: “Sa palagay ko, di na observe ang demeanor ng witnesses.” (With reports from Mitch Arceo and Jeamma E. Sabate)