DOJ defends Task Force Vizconde's findings

Following the backlash it received from the family of acquitted murder suspect Hubert Webb, the Department of Justice on Wednesday defended the results of the reinvestigation of the 1991 Vizconde massacre. In a statement, Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar said the government task force that conducted the reinvestigation carried out its mandate "in the pursuit of truth." The task force is spearheaded by the DOJ and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Their attached agencies, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police, respectively, were also part of the task force. "DOJ and NBI officials are in the pursuit of truth as part of their sworn mandate. Parties affected by the pursuit of truth are entitled to what they believe are just and fair remedies. But their actions must not and cannot deter our officials from the pursuit of truth," said Salazar.

Salazar is concurrently DOJ officer-in-charge as Secretary Leila de Lima is currently in Germany for official business. Salazar's statement was in response to the Webb family's threat to have De Lima disbarred for supposedly pinning down Webb to the massacre even if he was already acquitted by the Supreme Court in December last year. The Webb family and their lawyers had a press conference earlier in the day where they lambasted De Lima for supposedly contradicting the Supreme Court when she said that there is evidence indicating that Hubert was in the Philippines when Estrellita, Carmela, and Jennifer Vizconde were killed in June 1991. Hubert's departure to the United States at the time of the killings was his lawyer's main defense in seeking his acquittal. The high court, in acquitting Hubert, gave weight to his defense of alibi because the prosecution was unable to prove he was guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In Thursday's press conference, one of Webb's lawyers also accused De Lima of "electioneering" to propel a possible candidacy in 2012. "We also accuse Leila de Lima of mental dishonesty and outright laziness because if she had taken the effort to read the separate concurring opinions (to the decision), then she would have at least had the humility to accept that greater minds than all of us here have reviewed and analyzed the evidence," said lawyer Luis Agcaoili. - Sophia Dedace/KBK, GMA News