EDITORIAL - Beyond reasonable doubt

It may sound like music to the ears of the bereaved Lauro Vizconde, and perhaps the government is onto something new in the celebrated massacre. Malacañang has issued marching orders to several government agencies to solve the murders before the case prescribes in June 2011. That’s all of six months to solve – really and truly, this time – a case of rape with triple homicide perpetrated 19 years ago.

The Supreme Court has said the six men convicted of directly perpetrating the crime, plus a seventh who destroyed evidence at the crime scene, could no longer be prosecuted for the same offense, under the principle of double jeopardy, after their acquittal. The seventh man, former Parañaque policeman Gerardo Biong, in fact finished serving his sentence and was freed last month ahead of the principal convicts. No other personalities have been linked to the brutal murders in the past 19 years. Unless the government has other suspects in mind, a reopening of the case is unlikely to pin down anyone whose guilt can be established in court beyond reasonable doubt.

It would be more useful to review what went wrong in the investigation and prosecution of the case. The Supreme Court, burdened by perceptions that many of its decisions are based on considerations other than law, pointed out the holes in the case. The court reminded the public about the need to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt even as it stressed that acquittal did not necessarily mean innocence.

The capability to establish guilt became compromised as soon as Biong destroyed evidence at the home of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela and Jennifer. DNA tests could have identified the rapist of Carmela, but the evidence taken from her body was lost either by the National Bureau of Investigation or the Parañaque Regional Trial Court.

This is but a high-profile example of the consequences of sloppy police investigation. Recent studies have shown that there is a yawning gap between the number of criminal cases declared solved by law enforcement agencies and the conviction rate. The acquittal of the Vizconde convicts should prompt a redefinition of what law enforcers mean when they declare a case closed. A crime is not solved with the arrest and indictment of a suspect; solution comes only upon conviction. After 19 years, the Vizconde massacre is still waiting to be solved. This case should compel law enforcers to do a better job.