WHAT WENT BEFORE

The Supreme Court on December 14, 2010, acquitted Hubert Webb and six others in connection with the Vizconde massacre, citing the failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

In his defense, Webb claimed he was in Anaheim Hills, California, when the crime happened on June 30, 1991.

Webb said he left for San Francisco on March 9, 1991, and returned to the Philippines on Oct. 27, 1992, presenting documents and witnesses to support his claim.

The high court in its decision said that “no one has come up with a logical and plausible answer” to address questions such as: “How could Webb fix a foreign airlines’ passenger manifest, officially filed in the Philippines and at the airport in the US that had his name on them? How could Webb fix with the US Immigration’s record system those two dates in its record of his travels as well as those two dates when he supposedly departed in secret from the US to commit the crime in the Philippines and then return there?”

Among the documents Webb presented was a photocopy of his passport with Philippine immigration stamps of his departure and arrival. His defense also produced a US Immigration certification and a computer print-out of his arrival and departure authenticated by the Office of the US Attorney General and the State Department.

Other documents the defense submitted was a videotape recording of his Disneyland trip on July 3, 1991; an official receipt issued by a store in which he purchased a bicycle on June 30, 1991; his California Driver’s license issued on June 14, 1991; and a passenger manifest, along with tickets issued to him.

A number of his relatives and family friends also testified to have been with Webb at one point or another during his trip to the United States, or have knowledge of it.

Among those who testified was then practicing lawyer and now Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who said he had a conversation with Webb’s father, who said he was calling from Anaheim, where he and his wife went to look for a job for Hubert. The conversation was said to have taken place on June 29, 1991 between 10 and 11 a.m.

The high court explained that Webb’s documented alibi impeached Jessica Alfaro’s testimony not only with respect to him but also with respect to his coaccused. “Webb’s participation is the anchor of Alfaro’s story. Without it, the evidence against the others must necessarily fall,” it said. Inquirer Research