In a 76-page decision, the appellate court upheld the ruling of the Parañaque City regional trial court imposing life sentences on Hubert Jeffrey Webb, Peter Estrada, Hospicio "Pyke" Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, Antonio "Tony Boy" Lejano and Miguel Rodriguez for the murders of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela, 19, and Jennifer, seven.
The CA also upheld Judge Amelita Tolentino’s ruling, handed down in January 2000, in finding former Parañaque policeman Gerardo Biong guilty as an accessory in his effort to cover up the crime by destroying the evidence. Biong is now serving an 11-year prison term.
The patriarch, Lauro Vizconde, expressed his gratitude over the CA ruling, describing it as a "timely Christmas gift."
"I am very happy. This is a very significant Christmas gift to me. It’s nine days before Christmas, very timely indeed," he told The STAR.
"My thanks to the justices of the CA’s 3rd division," he said.
On the other hand, the former senator and basketball idol said he will appeal the decision before the Supreme Court.
"I will not stop until I die. I will keep fighting for justice," the older Webb said.
Vizconde said he is satisfied with the life sentence imposed on the accused since his family was murdered at a time when the death penalty had not yet been reinstated.
Vizconde said he will visit his family’s grave at the Holy Cross memorial park in Novaliches, Quezon City on Christmas Day to offer prayers.
The CA said the Parañaque court was justified in imposing the life sentence because of overwhelming evidence that showed Webb and the other accused had conspired to rape Carmela and, in the process, kill her and the rest of the family.
Since the offense was committed on June 30, 1991, prior to the imposition of the death penalty law in 1993, the Parañaque court was correct in imposing the maximum penalty of life imprisonment on the accused, the appellate court said.
The CA said Biong is equally guilty as accessory to the crime "by abusing his public functions... to conceal and destroy the physical evidence in order to prevent the discovery of the crime and by allowing the destruction of the physical evidence, Biong facilitated the escape of the principal accused."
In the same ruling, the CA "upgraded" the award of damages.
The CA noted the lower court imposed the mandatory award of P100,000 as civil indemnity, broken down to P50,000 for the death of the victim and P50,000 for the rape.
"The decision of the trial court shall thus be modified. The award of civil indemnity shall be increased to P200,000. The amount of P100,000 representing the indemnity for the rape and death of Carmela Vizconde and P50,000 each for the death of Jennifer and Estrellita Vizconde," the CA said.
The CA also upheld the award of P2 million as moral damages "considering the shocking and senseless aggression committed to the entire family of Mr. Vizconde who even lost his job abroad."
The case garnered national attention since most of the accused came from prominent families.
Webb is the son of the former senator while Lejano is the son of actress-singer Pinky de Leon and nephew of actor Christopher de Leon.
Vizconde said he still feels pain every time the story of his loved ones is retold.
"Unlike others, I still feel pain," he said. "They say the pain goes away in time but not in my case. I miss them terribly. I miss them especially at mealtime and when it’s time to sleep. But life must go on. I love them very much," the 67-year-old Vizconde said.
On the other hand, former senator Webb said the CA ruling came as a shock to him.
"I was on (my) way out of Metro Manila. I could not believe it. I almost got bumped. I was lost. But I had to turn back," Webb told The STAR.
Webb claimed he immediately called his wife Elizabeth, who replied that she too heard the news before both broke down in tears.
"I’m sure the other party in this case were celebrating but we’re greatly saddened by this turn of events," Webb said.
"I am (at a) loss for words. I’m looking for the words to describe how we feel. There is anger and discontentment. My children cried, not for pity, but it was a cry of rage because of anger," he added.
Setting aside his emotions, the former senator said he plans to elevate the appeal of his son to the Supreme Court although his lawyers have advised against it.
He said the lawyers advised him to file a motion for reconsideration of the CA ruling.
"It is like they took away our hopes. Our only solace is the Supreme Court which is the last bastion of hope for justice," Webb said.
Webb added Hubert’s lawyers led by his son-in-law Jose Luis Agcaoili were still securing a copy of the CA decision late yesterday.
The massacre of the Vizcondes, which occurred late in the evening of June 29, 1991 until the early hours of June 30, brought out an outpouring of grief and empathy for Mr. Vizconde.
On two occasions, the authorities brought to court different sets of suspects in the crime.
Twice, too, the cases were thrown out for insufficiency of evidence.
The authorities, however, never wavered in the search for truth to unmask the killers.
The breakthrough came on April 28, 1995 when star witness Ma. Jessica Alfaro appeared before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) claiming she knew the Vizconde killers.
This led to the prosecution of the young Webb and the rest of the accused.
Four years after the Vizconde killings, Alfaro surfaced to claim she knew the killers and related how it happened.
Alfaro claimed she feared for her life and was troubled by recurring nightmares over the incident.
The clincher was placing Alfaro at the scene of the crime when it occurred.
She submitted sworn statements detailing a more complete narration of the incident, identifying Webb, Lejano, Gatchalian, Fernandez, Estrada and Rodriguez as well as one Dong Ventura and Joey Filart, both still at large, as the perpetrators of the Vizconde killings.
Alfaro particularly tagged Webb as the one who raped and stabbed Carmela.
She claimed Webb had even ordered Biong to clean up the place of any traces or evidence that might implicate the group.
As years passed after the killings, Alfaro claimed she was being constantly reminded and threatened by the group against speaking up.
Alfaro narrated it was Estrellita who was initially killed while Webb was raping Carmela on the floor at the foot of the bed.
Jennifer was awakened and after seeing her elder sister being abused, she jumped at Webb and bit his shoulder while pulling his hair.
She said Webb got mad, grabbed Jennifer, pushed her to the wall and fatally stabbed her several times before proceeding to kill Carmela who was still gagged and hogtied on the floor. — With Marichu Villanueva, Michael Punongbayan