SC: Vizconde massacre case now up for resolution

The Supreme Court is now ready to decide on the nearly two-decade Vizconde massacre case even without a DNA analysis that could be instrumental in the resolution of the matter. In a resolution dated Oct. 19, 2010, the high tribunal said it will proceed with resolving the case because the National Bureau of Investigation can no longer perform a DNA analysis on the specimen taken from victim Carmela Vizconde. Carmela, her mother Estrellita and six-year-old sister Jennifer were killed in their Parañaque home on June 29, 1991. Witness Jessica Alfaro claimed Hubert Webb, son of former Sen. Freddie Webb, raped Carmela before she was killed. The court held that the National Bureau of Investigation could no longer produce the semen specimen or vaginal smears taken from Carmela's body. Thus, the court will decide based on the existing evidence and other records presented to it. "The DNA analysis ordered by this Court... can no longer be done. The Court may now proceed to resolve the issues raised in the petition/appeal on the basis of existing evidence which may have been formally offered by the parties and/or made part of the records," said the high tribunal. The latest resolution reversed its April 20, 2010 resolution that granted Hubert Webb's request for a DNA test on a specimen taken from Carmela. The Vizconde family appealed the said resolution, saying a DNA test may lead to Webb's acquittal. Webb is among the nine people convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Paranaque Regional Trial Court Branch 274 on Jan. 6, 2000. The conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals on Dec. 15, 2005 through a division then composed of Associate Justices Rodrigo Cosico, Regalado Maambong and Lucenito Tagle. Webb then elevated the matter to the Supreme Court and asked for a review of the case and the reversal of their conviction. — Sophia Dedace/RSJ, GMANews.TV