No longer behind bars, Hubert longs for more freedom

Hubert Webb is no longer in jail, but still, he's not as free as he would want to be. It’s as if he is still behind bars: Webb, 42, cannot go out today without guards — except now, his “security officers" are the people who love him and whom he loves. It’s a good thing Hubert has huge brothers. He is not a small man by any means, but Hubert is the smallest in his father’s basketball-player brood. When GMANews.TV met Hubert for an interview on Monday, he was “secured" by two of his brothers, Fritz and Jason, as they came out of their guesting at “Tonight with Arnold Clavio."

In an exclusive interview with GMANews.TV, Hubert Webb says that after spending 15 years behind bars, he is so eager to enjoy once more the simple things that come with being a free man, like driving his son to school. Joe Galvez

Of the three, Fritz is the eldest and Jason, former Philippine Basketball Association player, is the youngest. But when they stood up and posed for a photo with studio staff, Hubert clearly stood out as the smallest. Flanked by his brothers, the two towered over him like players defending a well-loved point guard. “I’m being kidnapped by GMANews.TV," Hubert quipped, as he was ushered to a table for the interview. His brothers laughed. During the interview, Hubert admitted that his moves are now restricted. “My parents are telling me not to do anything. You know, that’s not me but I have to follow what they want," he said. He used to frequent bars before. Today, he can’t do that because of the reputation he incurred from being implicated in the gruesome and controversial Visconde massacre — the killing of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters, Carmela and Jennifer in 1991. In 1995, Webb, together with Antonio Lejano, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Hospicio Fernandez, Peter Estrada, and former policeman Gerardo Biong were jailed for the crime. They were convicted by the Parañaque Regional Trial Court in 2000, a decision sustained by the Court of Appeals in December 2005. But on Dec. 14 this year, Webb and his six other co-accused were freed after the Supreme Court argued that the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. So now, Hubert is free. But is he really? “Of course we drink, we boys enjoy drinking. Now, anong mangyari pag inabot akong lasing. That’s the problem. Let’s be vulgar about it. Sigurado meron dyan magsasabi 'P… mo. Talagang buti nga nakulong ka.' OK pa yun, paano pag binatukan ako? Papabatok lang ako ganun? Galing akong Bilibid, papabatok ako?" he said. "So ang solusyon: don’t go out unless with family. Dun may protection ako kasi. Hindi naman sa nagmamayabang, pero I came from the worst possible place here in the Philippines and I survived without a mark (The solution: don’t go out unless with family. There, you have protection. It’s not that I’m being haughty, but I came from the worst possible place in the Philippines and I survived without a mark)," he added. His stay at the maximum security compound of the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa has made him a tougher guy, Webb said. “So if people really would think how I was able to survive they should use their common sense di ba? How did I survive? Siguro takbo ako nang takbo o siguro humaharap ako sa kaaway ko. Sila ang mag-isip (Perhaps I just kept on running, o maybe I faced my enemies)," he said.

Webb brothers Fritz, Hubert, and Jason during a guesting on 'Tonight with Arnold Clavio.' Joe Galvez

Used to the free-wheeling, treacherous world of prison life, Hubert said he doesn’t want to be restricted, but knows that he needs to follow the decisions of his family. “That’s hard for me kasi kung saan ako galing (where I come from, the mode) is kill or be killed. (But now) I always follow what my parents and my family tells me because I owe them that much. Following them is the least that I could do," Webb said. The information age as ally For Hubert, the fast-paced Internet had become a fast friend. “It’s a good thing inabot namin ang IT (information technology) age. Had we won this (case) earlier, patay ako nun. It could have been worse, he said. “Inabot ko na yung IT age where information is on the net, kids now are so aware (of what is happening) and they are always on the net, they do the research. Yung naiiwan sa kanila yung matatanda na ayaw tumingin," he said. Hubert believed that the younger generation is more open-minded because of the technology. “It’s painful to have been jailed for 15 years, but the Internet’s been a blessing," he explained. “Masakit dahil 15 years ako nakulong pero maganda dahil yung 15 years na yun, yung mga five-year old kids dati, 20 years old na ngayon; yung ten-year-old kids dati, 25 na ngayon. Lahat sila naka-online and everything you want to know is online (It’s painful to have lost 15 years in jail, but what’s good is that in 15 years, the five year old kids [I encountered before I got jailed] are now 20 years old; the ten-year-olds are now 25 years old)," Webb said. Hubert’s even got a Facebook account, which he opened three days ago. He’s got no Twitter though. “Hubert Webb talaga (account) tapos alam nyo na original dahil kasama ko yung utol ko sa picture. Marami kasing fake accounts ([I used my real name, Hubert Webb, and you know it’s the original account because I am with my brother in my profile picture. There are a lot of fake accounts, you see)," he said. And for those who impersonate him on Facebook, Webb had this to say: “Aping is the best form of flattery." “Sa akin lang sana huwag i-abuse kasi (But as for me, [I’m appealing that those who impersonate me] don’t abuse it because) our name has really gone through a lot. My father lost his bid as senator because of this scandal," he explained. Webb said he was able to keep abreast with technology, even while in jail. “Yung PSP yung anak ko meron nun e. May iPod Touch din ako; niregaluhan ako ng kapatid ko for Christmas two years ago. Hindi naman bawal sa Bilibid yun. Nasa jail pa lang ako me IBM Thinkpad ako (My child has a PSP. I also have an iPod Touch; my brother gifted me with this Christmas two years ago. This isn’t banned at the national jail, after all. I also had an IBM Thinkpad even when in jail). What surprised him most, however, coming out of jail after 15 years, was the speed of Internet today. Hubert gets animated, his hands gesticulated as he explained “Sa speed ng Internet ako nagulat — yun ang hindi ko alam, it’s really fast now. Kasi po ang inabot ko sa Internet ay ganito — takataktakatak click, takataktakatak — tapos maririnig mo pa yung kruuuung. Yun ang inabot ko so big difference now (I’ve been stunned by the speed of the internet — that’s what I didn’t expect. The internet I came across in the mid-1990s was like this — takataktakatak click, takataktakatak — then you’d hear a kruuuung. That’s the internet I’ve come across. So, big difference," Webb said, gesturing the difference in the Internet speed then and now. But it’s not only the speed of the internet that Hubert has to catch up with, but the “speed" of driving, as well. He needs to brush up on his driving skills, he said. “May ipinagmaneho ako. Una, hinahanap ko yung clutch. Nakita ko automatic yung sasakyan. E di ayan na nagmamaneho na. Ang yabang ko pa. Ang sabi sa akin, ‘Bilis bilisan mo naman parang lolo ka magmaneho’ (I was driving for someone. First, I was fumbling for the clutch. Then I saw the car was automatic. So there, I was driving now. I was so proud. Then, my passenger says to me, Can you speed up a bit, you drive like a grandfather)." Hubert broke down in laughter as he explained. He asked his brother Jason, who showed up later in the interview, to assist him with getting a driver’s license. “Papasa ba ako bro (Will I pass, brother?)?" Hubert asked. And Jason replied: “Basta marunong ka magbasa. Bulag nga dito sa Pilipinas nagkakaroon ng lisensiya e (For as long as you know how to read. In this country, even the blind can get a license)." Once he gets his driver’s license, Hubert says he is looking forward to driving his 17-year old son. (Hubert is not living with his son's mother but he refused to say if there is someone special in his life now.) “This time we’ll have a lot more time together. Summer is coming up…I can pick him up," he said, with a shy smile that shaved away the shadow of 15 years in jail from his face—at least for a moment. For Hubert, it does seem as if he’s finally come out of a long, dark tunnel. - DM/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV