Manila: The family of former senator Freddie Webb called for the disbarment of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, as an ad hoc body that she led found five witnesses who could counter last year's Supreme Court ruling.
The Supreme Court ruling had released the lawmaker's son who served 15 years for the rape and death of his sweetheart in her home in suburban Paranaque in 1991.
"We accuse Justice De Lima of subversion of the rule of law. What she has done is not only actionable in terms of a citation for contempt by the Supreme Court but upright disbarment," said lawyer Luis Agcaoili in a press conference.
The lawyer accused de Lima of "electioneering" and "laziness" to go through the Supreme Court's ruling last December that released Webb and his alleged conspirators, based on the accused testimony that he was in the United States from March 9, 1991 to October 1992, and could not have raped and killed Carmela Vizconde, then 18.
Her mother Estrellita and sister Jenny were also killed on June 29, 1991.
In 1995, a star witnesss, Jessica Alfaro, nailed Webb as the killed and rapist of the young Vizconde. She was with her boyfriend (also Webb's friend), outside of Vizconde's house when the heinous crime occurred in 1991.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which was tasked by President Benigno Aquino to re-investigate the case late last year, confirmed that five witnesses said that the young Webb was in the Philippines when the crime occurred. One of them was a barber, the other a shabu dealer, and the rest saw Webb playing basketball in the posh subdivision in BF Homes.
Webb family's outrage
With outrage, former senator Webb emotionally lashed at the NBI and said, "You're the ones who lied, not us."
"Give us their names. We want to investigate them. Give us this chance," he pleaded.
Earlier, Lauro Vizconde (the surviving Vizconde patriarch), said the young Webb should publicly apologize to him. The result of NBI's recent reinvestigation would not bring back the young Webb to prison since a Philippine law does not allow double jeopardy.
In response, Elizabeth, the mother of the young Webb, said in a TV interview, "He (Vizconde) is dreaming."
"For goodness sake, he should forgive himself for having caused my ailments. He will bring his lies to his grave. I will bring my truth to my grave," said Mrs. Webb.
The NBI should apologize to her family for making mistakes in the past and now in the investigation of the rape and murder case that involved her son and his friends, she said.
Young Webb laments
In a press conference, the young Webb also lamented and said, "I lost 15 years of my life. I never saw my nephews grow up. Our family is tired. We really are. We are exhausted."
Calling the investigators names, he said, "These cruel evil people are still doing the same things they've been doing (to us in the past)."
"These people have destroyed our family. They fight us with ghosts. Where do we seek justice now," he added.
Although freed from prison, he claimed he could not walk around freely without fear of being attacked.
NBI is fair
Meanwhile, Cecilio Zamora, NBI spokesman stood by the recent findings on the case, adding, "I can give the assurance that the investigation was fair. We would not have come out with the results if it were otherwise."
Users of social networking sites unanimously said that the elder Vizonde deserves justice.
He and the young Webb were the main topics of Filipinos on Facebook and Twitter.