Ending the Year

With the year rapidly coming to an end, I find myself at a loss trying to focus on what to write about. The past few days have been too hectic to allow me some quiet time to gather my thoughts and sit down to write.

That was unfortunate, as there have been a number of issues that I would’ve written about without a second thought, including President Noynoy’s impolitic comments on the Supreme Court, some further thoughts about the Supreme Court’s decision to free Hubert Webb and his companions, and a possible commentary about how media determines what issues should be focused on. Of these, I’m probably still going to be able to write about them, if I have the time, since they are still current issues.

At any rate, since this is likely to be my last post for the year 2010, I’d like to focus on the year that is ending. It’s been an active year, considering that we Filipinos saw the ushering-in of a new President via a new (and still contested) form of elections, and observed how he dealt with the various crises that beset him from the very start of his term.

Some of the big issues (good and bad) of the Aquino administration (Note: my apologies in advance if my list is incomplete. I don’t have internet at home, and I have to rely on my archives and memory to do my recall. Of course, you readers are free to fill in the gaps.):

1. “No wang-wangs” – I think this is one of the small things that helped endear President Aquino to the public. Removing this perk that has annoyed many a motorist, President Aquino helped to enforce the impression that public officials are servants of the people, and not their overlords. Of course, in the big picture, the specter of corruption still needs to be combated, but it’s little things like this that mean much.

2. The Chinese hostage crisis – The bungling of this situation by the Aquino administration still continues to haunt the President, since he has decided to disregard the findings of his investigative committee, and pretty much absolve all of the big names whom the committee considered as liable, especially Undersecretary Rico Puno, who was supposedly in charge of the police, whose bungling was seen on live television for the whole world to see. The situation ended in tragedy, resulting in the death of Chinese nationals, and gave the Aquino administration a huge black-eye from which it still has to recover.

3. Conflict with the judiciary – Starting with President Aquino’s snub of Chief Justice Renato Corona, and continuing with the President’s comments that dealing with the judiciary being one of his greatest challenges, the administration’s hate affair with the judiciary branch is probably only a few steps away from a constitutional crisis. The administration’s perception that the judiciary is biased against it is based on a number of decisions made by the Supreme Court, notably the decision declaring President Aquino’s Truth Commission as unconstitutional. It’s still an issue that needs observation, as there are more tussles ahead between the executive and the judiciary.

4. Amnesty to Trillanes and his cohorts – While Senator Antonio Trillanes has been freed, the issue of granting amnesty is still being discussed in Congress (I think. Any updates out there, anyone?). For myself, I didn’t, and don’t agree with it, since what Trillanes and his merry men did, taking over Oakwood Towers in a failed mutiny against then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and subsequently walking out of court and taking over the Manila Peninsula, requires closure via court decision, else others may take the opportunity to do the same thing in the future.

5. Budget passed – For the first time in 11 years, the national budget has been signed into law the year before it is to be enacted. For the first time in 11 years, the country will not be working on a re-enacted budget replete with expired items that can be exploited by a corrupt administration. Hopefully, the new budget will allow the Aquino administration to move forward with its agenda of fighting corruption and uplifting the poor.

Movies I watched over the year 2010 (rated from 1-5, 5 being the highest rating):

1. Iron Man 2 – 4
2. How to Train Your Dragon – 5
3. Shrek Forever After – 4
4. Toy Story 3 – 5
5. The Last Airbender – 1
6. Guardians of Ga’Hoole – 4
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – 4
8. Tron Legacy -3

Admittedly, I went to the movies on escapist mode; given the prices of movies these days, I’d rather watch dramas and other heavy stuff at home.

New books I read (same rating as above):

1. The Percy Jackson series (5 books, Rick Riordan) – 4
2. The Hunger Games trilogy (Suzanne Collins) – 3
3. The Chaos Waiting trilogy (Patrick Ness) – 5
4. The Dresden Files series (12 books, Jim Butcher) – 4
5. Leviathan – 4
6. Red Pyramid (Rick Riordan) – 5
7. The Lost Hero (Rick Riordan) – 4
8. Unseen Academicals (Terry Prachett) – 3
9. I Shall Wear Midnight (Terry Prachett) – 5

This, of course, doesn’t include all of the books I wound up re-reading over the year, including the Lord of the Rings, various books of Prachett’s Discworld, and Raymond Feist’s Riftwar saga.

Next year, 2011, I’m hoping to gain more control of my time and be able to write on a more consistent basis. That’s one of my resolutions for the coming year.

To all my readers, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. Cheers!

Acquittal

The Christmas rush is in full swing, making it difficult to sit down and write anything substantial. I’m looking at my blog stats, and, with this post, I’ve tied the lowest number of posts that I’ve written in a year over the six years that I’ve maintained this blog. As I always seem to say, c’est la vie. That’s just the way things are.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court released its decision on the twenty years-old Vizconde massacre, and acquitted Hubert Webb and his companions, who have been languishing in jail for the past fifteen years. The basis for the Court’s decision lay in the apparent weakness of star witness Jessica Alfaro’s testimony, which was the main basis for imprisoning Webb and his companions.
I can’t say that I’m surprised at the decision. As it is, looking at the evidence presented, Webb and his companions should not have been convicted to begin with.

It should be recalled that Webb, in his defense, claimed to be out of the country when the massacre happened, and his attorneys presented a wealth of evidence to support this claim. All of it, however, was rejected by then-judge, and now Court of Appeals justice Amelita Tolentino, who doubted the credibility of the evidence. Note that the evidence also included affirmations from the U.S. Immigration Service and then-U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that appeared to confirm Webb’s presence in the U.S. at the time of the massacre.

If anything, the prosecution should be to blame for the acquittal, since they apparently did not do enough to present evidence that would have convicted Webb beyond reasonable doubt. The same goes for the National Bureau of Investigation, which lost the DNA samples taken from Carmelita Vizconde. These samples could have either damned or exonerated Webb, but, with their disappearance, there can be no conclusive proof of Webb’s absence or complicity in the crime.

I can’t imagine how Lauro Vizconde must be feeling right now. For the past fifteen years, he has lived with the belief that his family’s murderers were safely behind bars. With the acquittal, the long, arduous task of finding who really killed his family starts once more, with the trail long cold.
It’s possible that the two other suspects, Filart and Ventura, who remain in hiding, could be the ones behind the massacre, but, should they be found, the prosecution will have to present evidence other than what was presented at the trial of Webb and his other companions, since it has already been deemed to be faulty.

The SC decision emphasizes the need for the prosecution to do its homework, and make sure that the evidence that they present is sufficient to convict a suspect beyond reasonable doubt. It also stresses the need to study all evidence presented, in order to come up with an objective decision. While it’s clear that the Vizcondes are not happy with the decision, and have even accused the SC of taking bribes, it’s also important to keep in mind that, in law, a man is innocent until proven guilty. While the court of public opinion may still convict Webb and his companions for the heinous crime, in the court of law, their guilt was not conclusively proven. Hence, they are allowed to go free.

Ateneo - Back to Back PCCL Champions!

I should have posted this yesterday, but things came up. Oh, well. Better late than never.

The heart of a true champion shines through in the face of adversity. Bucking their first loss to the Adamson Soaring Falcons in 12 years and playing without Ryan Buenafe, the Ateneo Blue Eagles won the succeeding two games in commanding fashion to clinch the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) for the second straight year.

While the Falcons managed to squeak past the Eagles by coming back from a deficit in game one, the Ateneo team came back strong in game two on the heroics of outgoing captain Eric Salamat, who scored 24 points in the 70-59 win.

In the penultimate final game, the Falcons looked to go for another comeback upset, but Ateneo players Kurt Long and Nico Salva both scored more than 20 points to hold them off. Long, in particular, shot 5 out of 6 three-pointers, the last one coming in the last two minutes to stifle another Falcon run. In the end, Ateneo eked out the win, 73-67, to clinch the championship.

The PCCL championship is a fitting end to the Ateneo basketball season, as it joins the grand slam three-peat UAAP championship.

It should be noted that the PCCL games have been sparsely attended, an indication of the PCCL in terms of fan support. This is ironic, considering that the PCCL gathers together the very best of Philippine collegiate basketball, mirroring the U.S. NCAA March Madness tournament. It might be because the PCCL is still a relatively new concept. I’m hoping, however, that, in time, the PCCL might come to rival the U.S. NCAA in terms of glamour and excitement.

Lacson the Coward

I didn’t realize that Senator Panfilo Lacson was such a monumental coward, as well as a drama queen.

In a statement released by the fugitive senator and former police chief, Lacson stated that he would only surface if he received justice or if he was dead. This was in relation to the Dacer-Corbito double murder case, wherein Lacson is considered to be a suspect.

Of course, by “justice”, Lacson means that the charges against him would be dropped; when he calls for a reinvestigation of the case, he’s actually asking for the withdrawal of charges against him. The current injustice, to Lacson, is being a suspect in the murder case. In this, he is no different from anyone charged with a crime who believes that he or she is innocent.

By not facing his accusers, Lacson has displayed a cowardice that is unseemly for someone who was once a police officer. He should surrender and let the wheels of justice turn for him, and, if the trial is indeed biased against him, he can seek redress from the courts. But, by continuing to hide, Lacson simply strengthens the belief that he is indeed responsible for the murders, and he fears being imprisoned for the crime. In this, however, perhaps we can be a little understanding. Having put a good number of criminals behind bars, as well as killed a good number of them, no doubt Lacson fears the retribution that likely awaits him once he is incarcerated.

As for the other part of the statement, wherein he states that he will only surface if he’s dead, should we take it to mean that, if he’s found by the authorities, he intends to go down fighting, guns a-blazing? He’s being overly dramatic, trying to paint himself as the wronged one.

As a police officer and an elected official, Lacson should know that he is not above the law; hence, he has no right to issue conditions and threats. If Lacson want his case to be reinvestigated or reviewed, he should surrender and submit himself to the legal process. Only then can his case be looked at once more.

The Vizconde Massacre Revisited

Amidst the international furor over the brewing spat between the two Koreas and the Wikileaks dump of thousands of classified or secret American communications, on the local scene, the main media focus has been on the impending Supreme Court decision on the infamous Vizconde massacre, where the main suspect, Hubert Webb, is hoping that he will finally be freed after 15 years in jail. This is after former policeman Gerardo Biong was released from prison after serving more than 12 years for having destroyed the evidence at the crime scene.

For those unfamiliar with the case, back in June 1991, the bodies of Estrellita, 57, Carmela, 19, and Anna Marie Jennifer, 7, were found brutally stabbed to death in their Paranaque home; Carmela, the elder daughter, was even raped before she was murdered. A group of men, including Hubert Webb, the son of then-Senator Freddie Webb, were arrested for the grisly murders. The lawyers of Webb presented evidence that Hubert was out of the country at the time of the murders, but then-Judge (now Court of Appeals Justice) Amelita Tolentino convicted Webb and his companions for the crime, basing her decision on the positive identification of eyewitness Jessica Alfaro. Webb and his companions were sentenced to life in prison.

At the time, to the general public, it appeared that it was a case of the rich and powerful finally getting nailed for their crimes. But, after 19 years since the murders, the case has been revisited over and over that there seems to be enough evidence to actually acquit Webb.

While an alibi is considered to be one of the weakest forms of legal defense, Webb’s lawyers presented evidence to show that he was out of the country. This included affidavits from the U.S. Immigration Service, as well as photographs and receipts that bolstered Webb’s assertion that he was not in the country at the time of the murders.

At the same time, while Alfaro, the key witness, positively identified Webb as the main suspect, her credibility as a witness has been in doubt due to the fact that she was a former drug user, and was likely on drugs when she witnessed the crime. Despite this, Judge Tolentino gave more credence to Alfaro’s testimony and used it as the basis of her decision to convict Webb.

What I also find strange is that Judge Tolentino denied Webb’s request to have the semen stains obtained from the victims' autopsy tested for DNA, which may have conclusively established Webb as the murderer or not. At the time of the trial, DNA testing was already an accepted way of proving guilt or innocence. Perhaps, however, Judge Tolentino could be excused for this, since the evidence might have been tampered with, making such test results questionable.

What cannot be excused is that neither the court nor the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) preserved the DNA samples, especially since the Supreme Court ordered the testing to be done. Instead, the samples were lost, which resulted in both parties pointing fingers as to who was responsible for the loss. With the loss of the samples, there can be no DNA testing, and, Webb's lawyers are using this as part of their argument to release Webb.

The Supreme Court is now set to make its final decision on the case. On one hand, it could uphold the decision of the trial court and the Court of Appeals and affirm Webb’s life sentence. On the other hand, it could declare Webb not to have been the murderer, and set him free. Whichever the decision, I hope that the SC justices will study the case carefully, and make the decision that does justice.