econoTREND
Philippine police to reopen probe on massacre
MANILA ム Philippine police will reopen a 19-year-old massacre case after six suspects, including the son of a former senator, were set free by the Supreme Court.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said national police director general Raul Bacalzo announced they would reopen the case because メthe case remains unsolvedモ.
President Benigno Aquino III did not have a specific order to restart a probe, Valte said. But Valte added: メItユs the duty of the case to make sure the perpetrators are found and that they are brought to justice.
Aquino, who was in Occidental Mindoro, said time may not be on the side on the authorities.
メIf the decision of the Supreme Court is cor-rect, they are saying that there is only one more year left before the prescription period to arrest the real suspects,モ said Aquino.
He said the authorities failed to arrest two other suspects.
A mother and her two daughters were killed in their home in June 1991.
One of their daughters was allegedly raped before she was killed, a witness claimed.
Seven suspects were originally involved in the case but only five were sent to jail.
After 15 years in jail, the Supreme Court set them free with a vote of 7-4, with four absentations.
The widower, Lauro Vizconde, claimed that the justices overlooked evidence to convict the five which was handed down by a lower court and confirmed by an appelllate court.
A day after the decision, Supreme Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez clarified that the High Courtユs ruling is not a vindication of the five because the tribunal ruled that the prosecution failed to present evidence that would establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The court is not saying that they are not guilty or they are innocent,モ Marquez stressed.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she would meet with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Magtanggol Gatdula to discuss the possibility of reinvestigating the case.
Aquino said of the case: メItユs really difficult to think that you lost your family and while you thought you had achieved justice, weユre back to square one.モ
Vizconde appealed to the government for justice in this case.
De Lima admitted that they are pressed for a solution because of the 20-year prescriptive period for filing a criminal case against an accused.
De Lima said if a new probe is still possible, she would order the NBI to pursue the two other accused in the massacre.
メThey are still at large. How come all these years there is no effort to track them down?... Flight is an indicative of guilt as legal principles say. For all we know, the truth is with the two other accused who are still at large,モ she asked.
She said if the reinvestigation pushes through, she would order the NBI to squeeze more information from lone witness Jessica Alfaro. CM/DMS
