Hubert says he wants real culprits behind bars, too

MANILA, Philippines - A day after walking out of the national penitentiary as a free man following an acquittal by the Supreme Court (SC), Hubert Webb said yesterday he also wanted the real perpetrators of the Vizconde massacre to pay for the crime.

Webb said he had forgiven those who have caused his incarceration for a crime the SC said he should not have paid for – including the prosecution’s star witness Jessica Alfaro.

He also expressed sympathy for Lauro Vizconde, who lost his wife and two daughters in the celebrated massacre on the night of June 29, 1991.

“I would do anything to help people have peace because I have it,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.

“If you get angry, what do you gain? There’s no benefit. No one has been able to decide properly when they’re angry,” he said.

Webb, who was cleared by the SC along with six other convicts for failure of the prosecution to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, started his first day at home and outside the national penitentiary for the first time after more than 15 years at 5 a.m.

He said he had a peaceful sleep, had breakfast and left their house with his father, former Sen. Freddie Webb, after an hour for a television appearance.

“Yung sinasabi nilang freedom, hindi ko pa nararamdaman (I haven’t yet felt what they call freedom),” Webb said, admitting that he is not yet used to his new life.

He also plans to return to the New Bilibid Prisons before Christmas to visit his friends there.

He said he has plans to take a vocational course.

The elder Webb, for his part, said that while his son has already forgiven Alfaro, they would still pursue charges against her.

“It may be said we hold no anger but then again lessons have to be learned on being honest and not making false accusations. Hubert says he’s forgiven Alfaro and for us there’s a price to pay for all of this,” the he said.

“I have to talk to my lawyers if it’s possible to sue her so she will know how it is to live behind bars,” he added. 

Getting back at Alfaro

Lawyer Jose Flaminiano, who served as counsel for Webb and Gerardo Biong during the trial, said he would meet with other lawyers this weekend to finalize their plan to file charges of perjury against the star witness.

“We intend to file charges of false testimony against Alfaro for giving a false statement and perjuring her affidavit during a legal proceeding. We also have some materials, which will prove that even during the investigations, there were already events and happenings wherein the NBI fabricated facts, using Alfaro,” Flaminiano said in a phone interview.

Aside from Alfaro, he said charges could also be filed against certain NBI officials and agents, some private and public prosecution lawyers, either administrative or criminal and maybe even disbarment charges, if they are no longer in service.

“We will study our options, where we plan to file the charges, either at the Ombudsman or prosecutors of Parañaque, or directly with the Department of Justice,” he added.

Biong’s back wages hang in the balance

Meanwhile, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) said it would first have to hear the petition for back wages of former policeman Biong before deciding if he is qualified for it.

Napolcom vice chairman Eduardo Escueta said the agency still has to receive Biong’s formal application for back wages.

Escueta said the petition would have to be reviewed by the Napolcom before it is acted on by the Philippine National Police (PNP), the agency that will release the back wages, if ever.

“We will have to wait for his formal request. An acquittal of a penal case is different from an administrative case. We will have to determine if what he is asking is really back wages or pension,” he said.

Escueta hinted that Biong might find it difficult to secure back wages from the PNP as he was convicted prior to his release from prison and was not wrongfully dismissed from the police service.

He said a police officer is only entitled to back wages if he was wrongfully dismissed from the PNP.

Biong was sent to prison for allegedly tampering with evidence in the 1991 Vizconde massacre. He said he now wants his back wages and pension with the PNP restored after the Supreme Court acquitted him and several others in the case.

Biong said the acquittal now paves the way for him to get his back wages and pension from the PNP.

He was detained in 1995 and later found guilty by the trial court of burning bed sheets and tampering with other evidence in the Vizconde massacre.

Biong served 15 years in jail before being released last month.

CBCP to Vizconde: ‘Seek divine justice’

In a related development, officials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) advised Vizconde to seek “divine justice.”

Capiz Archbishop Onesimo Gordoncillo, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, and Puerto Princesa Bishop Pedro Arigo said in separate interviews over the Church-run Radio Veritas that the “legal court” is not the last resort.

“The Supreme Court is not the last court. We have what we call divine justice,” said Arigo, who chairs the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care.

“I was telling ordinary people here that this is really the legal system here. This is the difficult part, we already know who is the suspect but if you do not have the evidence... Anyway, there is always a divine justice,” added Gutierrez, vice chairman of the CBCP-National Secretariat on Social Action, Justice and Peace.

“We have to face the reality. These things really do happen but there should still be hope. We should just ask the Lord and just let Him take care of all of us,” said Gordoncillo. - Edu Punay, Mike Frialde, Evelyn Macairan