News of the acquittal of Hubert Webb and company dominated the air lanes. Some fifteen years ago a group of scions of well to do families were accused of killing the wife and daughter of Lauro Visconde, a Filipino overseas worker. The case followed several twists and turns. One of them was the bungling of the physical evidence, which could have been used in the case gathered art the crime scene by Police Officer Gerardo Biong. For this Biong served time. This evidence may or may not have a bearing in the case. Since lives and reputations are at stake, these should be considered important unless proven otherwise. The prosecution had to rely upon testimonial evidence of Jessica Alfaro. Testimonial evidence is often questionable. Too perfect testimony could be suspected as scripted while those with certain inconsistencies may be interpreted as false... However, the prosecution obtained a conviction in the lower courts through such evidence and Webb and company were sentenced to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment.
This sentence must have been affirmed by the Supreme Court since Webb and company languished in the national penitentiary for a decade and a half. Then recently, the Webb case was reopened. They must have new evidence to merit the reopening of the case and the convicts were acquired by the majority of the Supreme Court Justices sitting en banc... This was because the Alfaro testimony was set aside. What was the forensic evidence allegedly lost can never be ascertained. At that time Scene Of Crime Operative or SOCO teams were not yet activated. In could only be conjectured that in lower police organizations like municipal or lower level urban police force had law college drop outs to serve as investigators. Maybe a few of them are knowledgeable in the laws of evidence. Clues in the so called Visconde Massacre scene were lost. Crime prevention is most important part in law enforcement. It saves money, lives and property. Early detection, apprehension, detention and preferment of charge is an effective crime deterrent. This means gathering of testimonial and physical evidence and its interpretation for use in court action would make a would be culprit think many times before attempting a crime... Since almost everybody knows that testimonial evidence is weakest of proof, a culprit may not fear it.
Like most of the police personnel of under developed countries very few are trained in forensics. In municipal police stations, there are very few trained in that science. Few ca ever lift a finger print from a crime scene or handle evidence so it could be subject to laboratory analysis later. There are no police stations, which could be relied to test whether a suspected substance can be established as a prohibited drug. Perhaps a course in forensics could be included in the Philippine National Police Academy. They may not all be specialists but at least they should be able to determine, handle and preserve physical evidence so they could be analyzed by experts. This way unsolved crimes in this country will be minimized. Besides that, laws will have to be enacted so most forensic evidence could be accepted in courts.
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