EDITORIAL- A second look at Alfaro

Hubert Webb was acquitted by the nation’s highest court last month, and the decision was reaffirmed this week. In clearing him and five others of involvement in the gruesome murders of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela and Jennifer, the Supreme Court cited numerous inconsistencies in the affidavits and court testimonies of Jessica Alfaro, who was presented as the prosecution’s star witness. The SC has clarified that acquittal does not necessarily mean innocence, but the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Webb presented witnesses and documents to prove that he was in the United States when the murders were perpetrated at the Parañaque home of the Vizcondes in June 1991. Carmela, 18, was also raped. Amelita Tolentino, at the time a regional trial court judge, noted that alibi is the weakest defense, especially when there is testimony to discount it. This was provided mainly by Alfaro, who testified in court that she was with Webb and seven others when the crime was perpetrated. Two maids of the Webbs provided corroborating testimony.

With much of the physical evidence at the crime scene destroyed by Parañaque policeman Gerardo Biong, Alfaro’s testimony sent Webb, Peter Estrada, Hospicio Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, Antonio Lejano II and Miguel Rodriguez to prison for more than a decade. Now Webb wants Alfaro to pay for what he and his family have always maintained were her lies. The other day Webb asked the Department of Justice to place Alfaro under investigation for her testimony.

From the United States where she has resettled, Alfaro has said she is standing by her story. If she is sincere, she has nothing to fear if the DOJ grants Webb’s petition. It is the best way to disprove that she has wrongly sent innocent people to prison for a heinous crime, and consequently allowed the real murderers to remain free for two decades now.

The accused also have their rights, including seeking redress against trumped up charges. Being framed is not uncommon in this country, and lawmen should be made to understand that they cannot resort to it when they are under pressure to solve a sensational crime. Webb may be out for revenge, but he also wants the truth. Even Lauro Vizconde should find some merit in that, painful as it surely must be in his bereavement.