Hubert Webb, et al Acquitted by Supreme Court

Google for the photo

After 15 years and 6 months of being imprisoned, the Supreme Court reversed the life imprisonment verdict of Hubert Webb, et al. They were convicted from the controversial Vizconde Massacre which happened 15 years ago.

Today, it was announced: “The court has acquitted Hubert Webb, Antonio Lejano, Michael Gatchalian, Pyke Fernandez, Miguel Rodriguez, Peter Estrada and Gerardo Biong,” Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez told a press conference.

According to the Supreme Court, the prosecution failed to prove the accused guilt beyond reasonable doubts; thus the acquittal was given to them.

The Vizconde massacre happened in 1991 and Hubert Webb's alibi was he was out of the country when it happened. Primary witness Jessica Alfaro's testimonies were the basis of the lower court's decision 15 years ago. Albeit, Supreme Court said that the witness' testimonies cannot be relied on.

Lauro Vizconde, the father of Carmela and Jennifer and husband of Estrellita (all were murdered in the massacre) said that he will respect the decision of the Supreme Court. But he still seek justice for his murdered family.

What is your point of view about the Supreme Court's ruling on the acquittal of Hubert Webb et al. ?

Hostage Taking Incident

The entire day was filled with tension as you have seen in the news. A hostage-taking incident occur once again. Unfortunately though, the guy who did it was supposed to be a law enforcer. I don't know what came in to his mind to do such act. The hostages were foreign nationals who were here in the country to have a short vacation. This is supposed to be their last day here in the country, sad to say, it became their last day here on earth because of this heart-breaking incident.

All news channels were trying to get the most detailed news of the day's most horrifying event. Although the law enforcers were carefully planning their strategy to rescue the hostages, they failed to do so. I don't know if their fellow police men were to blame for the incident. The hostage-taker saw what happened to his brother as the police men were trying to get him for inquest about the incident. This triggered the temper of the hostage-taker, and killed the remaining hostages inside the tourist bus. It ended brutally, most of the hostages died and the hostage-taker died as well.
A civilian was hit by stray bullet fired by the hostage taker. What I don't understand about the situation is why on earth would a teenage boy be present in the area where life would be at risk. It is a hard habit to break for some Filipinos to be nosy. When the law enforcers confirmed the death of the hostage-taker, immediately a flock of people went in the area where the incident happen. The police men had a hard-time telling these people to leave. To think that it is no longer their business to be there. And there was a heavy downfall of rain at that time, yet it didn't stop these UZIs (uziseros) from poking their noses.

 These are just some of the annoying habits of Filipinos that makes us look stupid in the eyes of the other people. It's a hard habit to break, but it's about time that it should be broken.

No crowd control. Lack of focus. Lack of devices to use to hasten the rescue. All these led to another travel ban in the Philippines. God save the Philippines