The news item “Abadilla slay convict seeks P-Noy clemency” (Front Page, 12/24/13) pounces on this reader like a sledgehammer, so to speak. How could there be a conviction when: (a) torture was used in eliciting confessions; (b) the Alex Boncayao Brigade repeatedly claimed responsibility for the crime, in fact showing as proof the watch of Col. Rolando Abadilla, which it turned over to Fr. Robert Reyes; and (c) the conviction was based on the testimony of a lone witness, and neither were there corroborating testimonies nor was there physical evidence.
Cast against the Vizconde massacre, the Abadilla conviction leaves a lot more room for reexamination and doubt. In the Vizconde massacre, the testimony of Jessica Alfaro was rejected purely on the basis of conjecture about her character; in the Abadilla case, if memory serves, the lone witness recanted his testimony, but still it was used. Also, both cases lacked physical evidence, and this fact, in the Vizconde case, was used to argue for the existence of reasonable doubt.
There seems to be a general consensus for miscarriage of justice in both with eminent legal luminaries arguing against the acquittal of Hubert Webb et al. in the Vizconde case, and with Amnesty International condemning the use of torture in the case of the Abadilla 5 case.
If the Supreme Court makes a mistake, is that the end of a case? Ateneo Professor Alan Paguia averred, citing a portion of Fortich v Corona (312 SCRA 751), where the high court itself ruled that unless the minimum number of eight votes for a majority is attained, there is no decision to speak of, therefore the release order of the Webb group shouldn’t have been signed.
Flip-flops (a Supreme Court justice recently described a ruling as a “double flip-flop”) and highly arguable decisions by the Court whittle whatever faith is left in our justice system. What can be done?
I pray President Aquino will grant the requests of Lenido Lumanog and set free the rest of the so-called “Abadilla 5” to right a glaring miscarriage of justice.
—BENIGNO CALANTUAN III,
Calle La rioja, La Residencia,
Aniban, Bacoor City,
btcalan2an@yahoo.com