'Webb in the country during Vizconde massacre'

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima today announced that there are new witnesses and evidence that prove Hubert Webb was in the country when Lauro Vizconde's wife and two daughters were massacred inside their home in Parañaque City in June 1991.

"There are new witnesses who attested to the fact that Hubert Webb was in fact in the country during the [massacre]," De Lima said as she rehashed findings of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police's re-investigation of the massacre, presented to the media today at the Department of Justice.

De Lima said that the new witnesses did know each other and she and the investigators are sure that these people "have no motive to fabricate their respective statements."

She added that she was able to personally talk to three of the new witnesses.

De Lima said that aside from the testimonial evidence from at least four people, investigators also obtained documentary evidence and data from the Bureau of Immigration's magnetic reel tapes that show Webb was in the country during the massacre.

The magnetic reel tapes record data of all the people going in and out of the country.

De Lima said that a review of the records show that there was no Hubert Webb who left the country throughout the year of 1991. However, she said that data from the magnetic reel tapes show that "several Webbs arrived in the country, including Hubert Webb" in October 1991.

The justice secretary said that the witnesses' testimony and the new documentary evidence "destroy or even shatter that defense of alibi" that Webb was out of the country, as proven by his passport which allegedly showed he left for the US on March 9, 1991, or three months before the night of the Vizconde massacre.

De Lima, however said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) could no longer present the new testimonies and physical evidence to reverse the Supreme Court's ruling, absolving Webb and the other suspects in the massacre.

"We have to admit that the finding of the SC on the validity of Hubert Webb's documented alibi is already the law of the case and therefore may no longer be legally challenged, regardless of whether it is right or wrong," she said.

She said that the new information gathered by the investigators on the massacre case brings out the truth that Webb was not in the country during the massacre.

The justice secretary added that aside from the double jeopardy rule that bars the filing of the same case against Webb and the other suspects, the investigators also failed to obtain evidence that would place the suspects at the scene of the crime.

(Click Here for Vizconde Massacre Timeline)

However, De Lima said that the investigators will continue to pursue the investigation as there are at least two more suspects at large -- Joey Filart and a certain Dong Ventura.

She added that new information gathered by police investigators showed that certain Dong Villadolid and Bing Villadolid may have knowledge or direct participation on the massacre.

The Villadolid brothers were mentioned by a certain Rhoda Pujanes alias Dang, who claimed she overheard Villadolid and his friends, including Miguel Rodriguez and Michael Gatchalian, talking about the massacre during a pot session in 1991.

Gatchalian and Rodriguez have recently been absolved along with Webb from the massacre case.

De Lima said that police and NBI investigators are now pursuing the Valladolid brother, who, based on initial information, left the country months after the 1991 massacre.

For his part, Lauro Vizconde said: “Gusto ko lang malaman ng taong bayan ang katotohanan,” while lauding the DOJ for the “re-investigation” of the case. - Angelo L. Gutierrez and Sandy Araneta