Yesterday in haiku form
Noel emailed me the day’s news in bullets easily tweaked into a haiku.
Tuesday in justice:
Hubert Webb is acquitted,
Hayden’s case dismissed.
Imelda Marcos
Gets her Leyte mansion back.
(How did these happen?)
All on the same day.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
December 15th, 2010 at 00:24
re: vizconde massacre
the evidence says webb is not guilty but jessica alfaro’s testimony says otherwise. which, exactly, is more credible? honestly, i’m confused.
December 15th, 2010 at 01:20
A former judge with the Solicitor General’s office (she was there around the time of Cory/Ramos) I knew once said that all evidence pointed to a not guilty verdict, but the public must have wanted to pin the blame on someone, so the judge sent the accused to prison. I tend to believe the SG judge, not Jessica Alfaro.
My terror mass media law prof in UP once said that if there was ever anything–anything at all–to cast doubt on the supposed guilt of the accused, then they should be set free. Not a lawyer expert here; just rehashing what these lawyers said, btw. Whether Webb et. al. are guilty or not, I feel awful for Lauro Vizconde. Paano yan, back to square one na ulit ang kaso?
As for Hayden, how, why on earth was his case dismissed?
December 15th, 2010 at 07:12
if the case had been tried in united states, there would not have been any trial at all.
hubert webb can prove, with documents and photographs (repeat : photographs) that he was in united states when the murders took place.
for a while, i thought maybe it was his brother who went to united states and used huber webb’s passport (they look alike enough, i suppose, they’re brothers). but he had pictures.
maybe hubert webb’s documents are fake? anything is possible, but this has to be proven in court, not guessed or presumed. maybe the photographs of him were taken at another time, not the time of the murders? again, this has to be proven in court. maybe the guy in the picture was hubert’s brother? take a closer look at the photographs then. hubert and his brother are not twins, they look alike but they are not interchangeable.
the point is, whether or not hubert is guilty, the fact his alleged guilt was never proven.
December 15th, 2010 at 09:08
My doubts on Webb et al innocence have nothing to do with Alfaro, but on the testimony of the household helper. Think of it — a powerless maid will not have the courage to tell lies about an incumbent senator’s son in a murder trial. Freddie Webb was a senator then, and this is a family who has resources to produce whatever documents that are needed.
It’s like the alalay of Ampatuan Sr. Why would he go against such a powerful figure and implicate the father along with the son? You don’t do that (and risk your life) unless you feel strongly about the truth.
December 15th, 2010 at 09:19
Free Belo treatments, anyone?
December 15th, 2010 at 10:33
Hell must really exist.
December 15th, 2010 at 12:52
# 6 dear_prudence — Oh yes. Now I’m curious to find out what the other hell feels like. This one here’s a third world drag.
December 15th, 2010 at 12:56
Good news for a change
Your Tom Waits in Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll that is
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/12/tom-waits-neil-diamond-alice-cooper-rock-hall-inductees.html
December 15th, 2010 at 12:59
Maybe I’ve watched too many Law & Order shows. I don’t doubt that the prosecution case was weak in relying mainly on Alfaro. But if this was tried in the US, the defense would have produced witnesses, not just documents, to prove that the person was somewhere else at the time the crime was committed. I heard Gary V testified but I don’t know what time frame he was testifying on. With all the resources of the Webb family, I would have flown in from the US anybody who could prove my son was somewhere else on that day.
December 15th, 2010 at 13:11
foodiehall — If I remember correctly, the defense team even flew in people from the FBI.
jouvs — free Belo treatments daw, basta may hidden camera.
December 15th, 2010 at 15:19
As far as I know, Hubert’s documents were certified by the US Immigration, but the US government won’t allow a representative to testify and verify them on court. Also I don’t think a lowly Philippine senator has the power or the financial capability to bribe the US Immigration or the FBI just to falsify his son’s documents.
Does anybody know the reason why Judge Tolentino denied Hubert’s request to have the semen samples DNA tested in 1996?
I’m favoring Hubert mainly because I just can’t get behind Jessica Alfaro’s contradicting affidavits and inconsistent testimonies. Plus the fact that she wasn’t really an eyewitness, and that she couldn’t even identify on court the people she was accusing of the crime.
December 15th, 2010 at 17:25
Has anybody seen Cheche Lazaro’s Dalawang Mukha ng Hustisya?
I grew up thinking that Webb et al has done it. But now I feel sorry for him. Here is a case where a lack of DNA technology is absent to prove him innocent. I’m now on the side that he is not guilty, mainly because of his willingness to undergo DNA tests. Why do I have this sinking feeling that this case will never be solved?
Anyway, Imelda Marcos still got fabulous hair. She should get a shampoo endorsement.
As for Hayden and Katrina, the case was violence against women. I don’t think there was a point where Hayden has become violent to Katrina on the video. Haha! As the song goes, it’s not their guilty feet which got rhythm.
December 16th, 2010 at 09:09
The fact that Alfaro was an asset of the NBI who initially offered to bring an eye witness, but became the star witness herself, was never played up in media. Heard of a rumor that the actual witness was someone close to her. In this case, it is perjury of the first water, because she passed herself off as the eyewitness. Saw her inability to identify Lejano, until someone came in and whispered something after which, she was able to identify the suspect.
Foodiehall – the household help was actually an ex-household help when she testified. Freddie Webb was no longer a Senator when the crime happened – he was the representative of Paranaque. On your question of the ex-household help’s motives, I can only speculate – she might have an axe to grind for being dismissed, or she was offered something by the NBI (just as Alfaro was living off the NBI as an asset prior to, during and after her testimony).