Rest now, Mang Lauro

VIZCONDE; 78

LAURO Vizconde, who lost his entire family to a massacre and became the face of the Filipino’s cry for justice amid the escalation of heinous crimes in the 1990s, died at a Parañaque City hospital on Saturday. He was 78.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), of which Vizconde was a founding member, said “Mang Lauro” was pronounced dead at 5:15 p.m. at Unihealth-Parañaque Hospital in Sucat.

VACC chair Dante Jimenez said Vizconde suffered four heart attacks on Friday and died while still on life support at the intensive care unit.

The wake will be held at Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City, Jimenez said.

Vizconde’s wife Estrellita and daughters Carmela and Jennifer were killed in their home at BF Homes, Parañaque, on June 30, 1991. He was working as a cook in the United States at the time.

Members of prominent families were tagged in the killings, leading to the filing of homicide and rape charges in the Parañaque Regional Trial Court (RTC) in 1995.

In 1998, Vizconde cofounded VACC with Dante Jimenez, Martin Diño and Cory Quirino. The anticrime watchdog group was composed mostly of relatives of victims of heinous crimes.

In January 2000, then RTC Judge Amelita Tolentino convicted six men for the crime, including Hubert Webb (son of former Sen. Freddie Webb) and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

Two other accused—Joey Filart and Artemio Ventura—remained at large. Police officer Gerardo Biong was convicted as an accessory and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The Court of Appeals upheld the guilty verdict in December 2005.

In 2001, Vizconde was appointed to the board of the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC 13) by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In an Inquirer interview in July 2012, he said he was given a board seat by Arroyo because “they just wanted to help me. It was only for survival since I don’t have a regular source of income.”

The widower was the only board member retained when President Aquino took over in 2010.

On Dec. 14, 2010, the Supreme Court acquitted Webb and his coaccused with a vote of 7-4, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt and the infirmities in the witness’ testimony.

Vizconde’s motion for reconsideration was denied by the high court in January 2011 and again in February that year.

Webb, now a free man, recently got married and is running for city councilor in Parañaque in the May elections. With Inquirer Research