Cop in Vizconde case seeks verdict reversal

A former policeman implicated in the 1991 Vizconde massacre asked the Court of Appeals yesterday to reverse its decision, which upheld a lower court ruling that found him guilty of being an accessory to the heinous crime.

In a 14-page motion for reconsideration, former Parañaque officer Gerardo Biong said the evidence against him that led to the guilty verdict was "bereft of any structural support."

Biong, through his lawyer Ricardo Valmonte, said the claims of star witness Jessica Alfaro that he had worked as a driver-employee of former Sen. Freddie Webb, father of the primary suspect, was based only on gossip.

"The prosecution was unable to produce a shred of evidence to show such a relationship between Biong and the Webbs," the lawyer said.

He maintained that aside from the claims of Alfaro and his former live-in partner Lolita Birrer, there was no proof that he conspired with the others convicted of the crime by cleaning the Vizconde house to erase evidence.

In her testimony, Alfaro positively identified Biong as the person who met Webb and his group at the BF Executive Village after killing the Vizcondes.

Alfaro said Webb ordered Biong to clean the crime scene in exchange for a sum of money.

Birrer testified that on the morning of June 30, 1991, she and Biong were together when the latter received a phone call. She said Biong looked bothered while talking to someone on the phone.

He then proceeded to BF homes. When he returned, Biong proceeded to the sink to wash his hands and face. Birrer said she noticed bloodstains on his fingernails and that she saw Biong holding a knife, which he later kept in a drawer.

"Without any evidence of whatever kind on the relations between Webbs and Biong, what Alfaro and Birrer have spread concerning Biong’s acts pursuant to Webb’s order are garbage. Their incriminatory testimonies have no rational basis. It boggles the mind the claims of the two that the young Webb could summon Biong and order him to clean the place of their sin," Valmonte said.

Biong was sentenced to a prison term of 11 years for being an accessory.

The Court of Appeals also upheld the convictions of six other suspects, including Webb.

All were sentenced to life imprisonment.