tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157645692024-11-06T11:05:11.408+08:00Eche..blah..blahEveryday StoriesAndreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.comBlogger236125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-26691501198820472732019-09-09T03:05:00.001+08:002019-09-09T03:07:48.280+08:00An Idea for a Youtuber ChannelThese past few years saw the rise of Youtubers or vloggers. I don't exactly know what they are called, but they earn through Google Ads impressions in their videos.<br />
<br />
The genre is widely popular in the US. It is actually already popular in the Philippines. There are already so many of them.<br />
<br />
The themes are mukbang (just watching the video host eat), reality tv-types, some comedy skits, some about traveling and some about current events.<br />
<br />
You can see that the videos are amateurish in nature and most don't even follow the basics of broadcasting. But that doesn't prevent them from earning around $1,000 to $5,000 per month.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>My idea is something easy to do, especially when you do it with lively and interesting friends. My proposed show is a reality show which features a drinking session with friends. Any topic is discussed under sun. There will also be some music playing or karaoke.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qf3Q5K6shqnAo5aj5AfIqbSVhqXrZ-MNx5GtwbpZEgNB10UJyrZnVgAVvXsxFvq59Km88vdT5r-zCn5eC-SpFHhAjuagUJTeFz8nZGmc3qzp5AF070zS-2ZuscWgZb_uCSkz/s1600/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qf3Q5K6shqnAo5aj5AfIqbSVhqXrZ-MNx5GtwbpZEgNB10UJyrZnVgAVvXsxFvq59Km88vdT5r-zCn5eC-SpFHhAjuagUJTeFz8nZGmc3qzp5AF070zS-2ZuscWgZb_uCSkz/s320/hqdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-27512748656700992962019-07-09T14:29:00.002+08:002019-07-09T14:29:39.440+08:00One Minute Car WashHere in Sriracha, Chonburi, Thailand, it is very dusty - so dusty that after washing your car, your car will begin to have that thin film of dust in under 12 hours!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJD-PRh3UhODHW0G2FMhIgxF1LKNIYAAUuY_SMUK9Zk8c4tZS1jmMQvz1GmUXK3sAgAw4LyTlMxGmkLNAGoumXtZgVEVE4aE6r8fE5_waxbtvjvij9ZCj4gexg0GSqonar6nCp/s1600/66163521_392165408092365_6268562479987556352_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="408" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJD-PRh3UhODHW0G2FMhIgxF1LKNIYAAUuY_SMUK9Zk8c4tZS1jmMQvz1GmUXK3sAgAw4LyTlMxGmkLNAGoumXtZgVEVE4aE6r8fE5_waxbtvjvij9ZCj4gexg0GSqonar6nCp/s320/66163521_392165408092365_6268562479987556352_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
It is quite frustrating. I even bought a car cover so that it can prevent dust accumulation. I would immediately cover the car after washing it.<br />
<br />
The car cover idea was great and whenever I use the car, it would be clean as the day I washed it.<br />
<br />
However, it was becoming tedious to cover and remove all the time especially when it was already raining all the time.<br />
<br />
So, I found another way for those lazy to clean their cars.<br />
<br />
<h4>
One minute washing</h4>
<div>
What I did is just garden hosed thoroughly the damm car! After it dried, I could see water spots. Well, I can live with that - better than a dusty car.</div>
Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-70687295255550395092019-07-08T22:29:00.002+08:002019-07-08T22:30:17.372+08:00Is Flipboard Safe to Use<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktOeoHZ0qoVd_ZXPBNXPGm3TKKTpZVegso-2ZS9Rq7Zw3aIFDRPiT_j3wT4A2qOqrL31FgCtRyPae5rjgK8pJc6Q92Ljk0iynpNo91YgYkSDYY72i9gsCrpflUmIs7EjT0CYk/s1600/Flipboard+hacked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktOeoHZ0qoVd_ZXPBNXPGm3TKKTpZVegso-2ZS9Rq7Zw3aIFDRPiT_j3wT4A2qOqrL31FgCtRyPae5rjgK8pJc6Q92Ljk0iynpNo91YgYkSDYY72i9gsCrpflUmIs7EjT0CYk/s1600/Flipboard+hacked.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
I just had created Flipboard magazines focusing on cryptocurrencies when I later learned (from Google Search) that the curation platform was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/05/29/flipboard-confirms-it-was-hacked-twice-150m-users-at-risk-as-passwords-stolen/#36a5d1346926" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hacked twice</a> already!<br />
<br />
I intended for this magazine to push web traffic to my <a href="https://oliodigest.com/" target="_blank">cryptocurrency blog</a> but I presume users will be leaving the platform in droves. And I'm guessing it will bring down Flipboard.<br />
<br />
So, I deleted and proceeded to look for new means to curate web content. Besides, who would want their usernames, email addresses and passwords be sold in the dark web? No, siree!<br />
<br />
I'm trying out Quora but getting bad reviews about it. Let's see if it pans out.Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-90286092644785917152019-07-03T05:15:00.000+08:002019-07-03T05:15:06.291+08:00Living in Sriracha Chonburi Thailand - People here are rich<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5f1jHBR2dS1vdAeSAeYNT9W9JAyEV1Fh4bOY6vB_yGjKJzby6IYDM5KSLnSkcylsgl0ZLY2tRC7MiKbVe_csRz-YnO_GfNRCVp98spyVKRVbWBnze-l5IQTWLQBkNhEW1i8Yq/s1600/IMG_0208-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5f1jHBR2dS1vdAeSAeYNT9W9JAyEV1Fh4bOY6vB_yGjKJzby6IYDM5KSLnSkcylsgl0ZLY2tRC7MiKbVe_csRz-YnO_GfNRCVp98spyVKRVbWBnze-l5IQTWLQBkNhEW1i8Yq/s640/IMG_0208-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah, paradise</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've been living here in Sriracha for the past four months. Things are different here compared to Bangkok.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One of the main major changes you will notice is the lack of public transportation in the outskirts of Sriracha. I assume this must be a norm in Thailand's rural or small urban places.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Don't get me wrong this is place is top A+ in infrastructure. There are wide smooth roads with most areas having ample lighting; fast fiber internet with 100mbps connection as a low-end subscription; high-class hospital and public ones which can compete with the private hospitals; great schools. It's actually a great place to live.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But because the population is under some 200,000, there are virtually no tuk tuk or song teow in my neighborhood. Even though I have a car and a scooter, I still get uneasy about it. What if both vehicles break down and you find yourself in an emergency situation? I hardly speak Thai and I don't know anybody here.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's kind of weird that all people here have their own vehicles. Even when the local market is filled with a lot of people, you won't see anyone without a vehicle - everyone has either a scooter, a car or a pickup.</div>
Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-25670720358085493772013-12-12T02:49:00.000+08:002013-12-12T02:49:25.842+08:00Firefox Download Statusbar Alternative<h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Firefox Download Status Bar Not Working</div>
</h2>
<br />
Ever since Firefox updated to version 26, <span class="st"><em>Download Statusbar</em> 0.9.10. by C.J stopped working. There was a <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/download-statusbar-fixed/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">fix</a> made but it still does not work. I wasted hours looking for a solution or a replacement. But there was nothing that has features better than C.J's add-on.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">Anyway, I accidentally found the perfect replacement. It is actually based on the same code as<em> </em></span><span class="st"><em>Download Statusbar</em> 0.9.10.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">You may get it <a href="http://adf.ly/abRTs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Just skip the ads. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAVKeeOKE-EP-tt5V177BitD3OXP8x220ZYYTKWIz7CT9LeANXSzTvbLkzk0kyyngf4jcRUnmq0EOr1UNyYBWqJpzKJYnaRNvkeiWevkl_yckqzQBk_unwTR55c-EjnZ6CTdrx/s1600/dnubsMain.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAVKeeOKE-EP-tt5V177BitD3OXP8x220ZYYTKWIz7CT9LeANXSzTvbLkzk0kyyngf4jcRUnmq0EOr1UNyYBWqJpzKJYnaRNvkeiWevkl_yckqzQBk_unwTR55c-EjnZ6CTdrx/s1600/dnubsMain.png" /></a></div>
<span class="st"><br /></span>Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-36389676674348065742013-07-10T04:32:00.000+08:002013-07-10T04:32:09.635+08:00Rippln Review: Get Paid to ShareHave you ever shared an app or a game with someone? What if you could get paid for that?<br />
<br />
Rippln is about to launch and they will track the things you share and make sure you get paid for that. Check it out <a href="http://t.co/dxBzjJglsT" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54ncCna13-mPP8R0L6xY5ulm1-PlfGuNw4WDYim-eq3fs3z8EyK-shK0mKf1OoRh0E176K0AwACXLyTckvzZy4tM5RBj3pG9wBFM6J1wRku3q1uiIybPX5xywWlCkQ7PyXg7V/s1600/what-is-rippln1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54ncCna13-mPP8R0L6xY5ulm1-PlfGuNw4WDYim-eq3fs3z8EyK-shK0mKf1OoRh0E176K0AwACXLyTckvzZy4tM5RBj3pG9wBFM6J1wRku3q1uiIybPX5xywWlCkQ7PyXg7V/s400/what-is-rippln1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands – of people got invites recently, mostly from friends and acquaintances, to join a new
“mobile app gamification” site called Rippln. What’s creating all of the buzz is the site’s claim to enable significant cash rewards to users when the site goes live.<br />
<br />
A closer look reveals that Rippln employs a sophisticated multilevel
marketing scheme based on invites and access codes to tease fans into
growing their following on the expectation that earlier “players” will
receive kickbacks and residuals for bringing in additional levels, or
ripples, of players and teams, ostensibly to grow the site’s commerce
ecosystem. However, there’s no guarantee that fans will become players,
or that such an ecosystem will get built.<br />
<br />
There are still many red flags to consider before you commit yourself to this venture. However at this point, everything is still free so there's no harm in joining up. <br />
<br />
<i>How is it not an illegal pyramid scheme?</i><br />
It has to be the number one question on the minds of a lot of people. Rippln spokesman said, "No, it is not a scam. Rippln is a new and innovative company that is certainly pushing the limits on creativity. Such creativity will always be met with skepticism. Until fully developed, new ideas are not easily conveyed so that everyone can understand the full picture. We admit the Rippln is no different. However, Rippln has a corporate team that have worked with independent contractors and distributors for years. It is back my a team with great credentials who have all also put their reputations on the line for this concept. That includes an accounting, legal, marketing, and programming team with years of experience."<br />
<br />
Zynga players on mobile platforms are proud that their game playing enables them to
contribute to various social causes through in-game mechanics. For
example, FarmVille allowed players to pay for the privilege to grow a
specific corn crop that resulted in donations to Haitian earthquake
relief. Zynga earns a win-win on this one. First, players perceive Zynga
as being socially conscious. Second, and more subtly, Zynga’s
charitable causes mechanism is training players to spend money on
Facebook credits. They want to walk players through the process of
purchasing Facebook credits to spend on Zynga games as often as
possible. So that the act of purchasing becomes a mindless routine, a
compulsive part of the gameplay experience. For some players, purchasing
Facebook credits for social causes through Zynga gameplay will be their
first introduction to the mechanics of spending real money on virtual
goods. For other players, the social giving reinforces the behavior in
order to lower the mental barrier for their next in-game purchase. <br />
<br />
Rippln is claiming they want to do something similar to this. They
plan to use a business model (like Zynga), charity notwithstanding, that rewards
peeps for their recommendations in app versus only making the app developer
money. To me, it seems a win/win. Let's see what develops. <a href="http://t.co/dxBzjJglsT" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Join for free</a>. No harm in trying.Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-38182220013376799422012-10-24T03:55:00.000+08:002012-10-24T03:55:28.675+08:00Rebirth<br />
<br />
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In mystic
dreams are fulfillments of pleasure and desire, much like the suspended state often
one is in after an accomplishment of sorts; with one’s breath that can blow
away the demons and bad vibes. Good intentions sought after and the minute
details of glorious victory of the soul, these are what I’ve been feeling for
the past couple of months. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I am
re-invigorated: There, beyond is the elusive dream, the touch of Midas finally
in the works, and the eternal bliss of the soul reflected on my mind like a
poem reminiscent of Tagore of yore, the simplicity of Thoreau’s deeds, and the
complicated machinations and electricity (pun intended) of Tesla’s obsessed mind.
Oh, the relief of finally getting free from the shackles of an illusion, an
illusion that again almost buried me to the ground. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Free.
Free from all the despair, and the longing for a truer life is within reach. I am
so blessed to be born, raised and grew up under the tutelage of a man who took
the road less travelled by. It took him to an adventurous journey, and it took
me there, too. I look therefore to this day, and the days ahead. Oh, it will be
Christmas again. And though they say it is the season only children are the
ones happy for, I disagree, for the crisp air and the sounds that remind the
older guys like me about their own youth are enough reasons for having a piece
of this happiness, too.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A
time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up
that which is planted (Bible).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And yes,
as Frost once wrote, “ I shall be telling this with a sigh/Somewhere ages and
ages hence /Two roads diverged in a wood, and I/I took the one less traveled by/And
that has made all the difference.”</span></div>
KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-81678083520653780882012-10-10T03:51:00.001+08:002012-10-10T03:55:04.203+08:00The Weirdest Pinterest AlternativeI was browsing the top 500 websites listed by Open Site Explorer and looking for ways to build links on top PageRank sites and I happened to click <a href="http://adf.ly/DYBfN" target="_blank">Goos.com</a> which was listed around 400 plus.<br />
<br />
Lo and behold! I thought I was at Pinterest or some kind of a backup site of Pinterest. The similarity was uncanny - down to the last detail. Take note this site is one of the top 500 websites ranked by Alexa. Was this some sort of retaliation against the popular pin-board site for being a copyright violator? FYI: Pinterest was accused of monetizing on copyrighted images not their own and no express permission by the image owner. <br />
<br />
I checked the Internet for stories about this and I found none. I hope someone who knows the backstory of Goos comments on this post.<br />
<br />
By the way, <a href="http://adf.ly/DYCEL" target="_blank">this</a> was how Goos.com looked like in 2008.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgf4zNki3u4EGaT-MO3nffToD3kbXJGDHaxwY_VC9t4IjP6kSUo6cwOwpo92LRPRggUHs9nFIw4MXR454ao96qwkAzukM4Wk7cA9neHtJhq8oJBdQHuTAnbAGdAmY_V45UxcN/s1600/174502v6-max-250x250.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgf4zNki3u4EGaT-MO3nffToD3kbXJGDHaxwY_VC9t4IjP6kSUo6cwOwpo92LRPRggUHs9nFIw4MXR454ao96qwkAzukM4Wk7cA9neHtJhq8oJBdQHuTAnbAGdAmY_V45UxcN/s1600/174502v6-max-250x250.png" /></a></div>
<br />Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-42317199857504496502012-09-30T05:46:00.000+08:002012-10-01T04:15:05.965+08:00The Embellishment of (nearing) Middle-Age <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes, a few days from now I'll
definitely be older again, an inevitable annual occurance that happens yearly
(hey what the). Aside from a few, there have been no regrets, and while I toss
the hat in the air I recall, too, throwing caution to the wind. That is the
reason for the happiness. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHboRVAfaN-WJPLneVmHPxNcs-Q8hYxU2UtX9eGOKav7an3ojHclaK3QKt214n36uXBUg-G84Ii6Klf4t9buMDRwdOULr3XUh21IWl3XScjojKan8IxJkcFE0Fqm_k6k3FFLtTiw/s1600/trolling-at-its-finest-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHboRVAfaN-WJPLneVmHPxNcs-Q8hYxU2UtX9eGOKav7an3ojHclaK3QKt214n36uXBUg-G84Ii6Klf4t9buMDRwdOULr3XUh21IWl3XScjojKan8IxJkcFE0Fqm_k6k3FFLtTiw/s320/trolling-at-its-finest-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another reason is that I am back to
working-out and I feel so great about it. In fact, I look younger because of
all the toxins flushed out of my system. I never felt like this since seriously
considering it (working-out) a lifestyle many years back. And lately, I have
been consuming tons of protein from beef, chicken, other poultry products
(cheese especially), soya, and pork. The reason for which there is always the
Nora Daza Pochero during lunch, which I’ll later cook. Or let my partner do it,
again. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Anyway, all these things that are
the current issues surrounding my existence has prompted me to remember my
youth again, and trying to revive it by being the healthy guy I have already pledged
to do and maintain until I reach 110 years, the age of my neighbor who owns the
Meguiar carwash at the end of the road. The childhood memories, though remain
as memories, fond memories that is. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is a poem by one great fellow. I
wish I could tell my son far away about this poem, but can’t. time will tell if
it could reach him (this poem), but I hope it does. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
Child-World</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">_The Child-World – long and long
since lost to view –<br />
A Fairy Paradise!– <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
How always fair it was and fresh and new – <br />
How every affluent hour heaped heart and eyes<br />
With treasures of surprise!<br />
<br />
Enchantments tangible: The under-brink<br />
Of dawns that launched the sight<br />
Up seas of gold: The dewdrop on the pink,<br />
With all the green earth in it and blue height<br />
Of heavens infinite:<br />
<br />
The liquid, dripping songs of orchard-birds – <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
The wee bass of the bees,<br />
With lucent deeps of silence afterwards;<br />
The gay, clandestine whisperings of the breeze<br />
And glad leaves of the trees.<br />
<br />
* * * * *<br />
<br />
O Child-World: After this world--just as when<br />
I found you first sufficed<br />
My soulmost need – If I found you again,<br />
With all my childish dream so realised,<br />
I should not be surprised.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">James Whitcomb Riley</span></div>
KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-25750695161997595332012-05-30T04:29:00.000+08:002012-08-06T04:07:32.559+08:00Consummatum Est; Let Us Start All Over AgainSometime in my youth, which I am certain was between the ages thirteen to fourteen, a sense of wonder lingered to me, setting off a question in my mind: “Why do people who govern my country act the way they do?”
Raised by a lawyer father who was too honest in amassing ill-gotten possessions, the mere thought of stealing a centavo by an elected official from common folks he swore to serve honorably was to me, strange. My father had many visitors in his office, which he held in our home in Sta Ana, Manila. He was never bored as he always had the company of his friends, clients (which ranged from the Chinese tycoon who paid him a hefty fee – to the lowly fisher folk who came from far-away Iloilo to sought his help pro bono), colleagues, neighbors like the old guy who shared his interest in playing the piano, relatives, and even the postman who always rang twice.
One time (during that time), on a nice Sunday afternoon with an associate of his at the back of our house while having his daily four o’clock bonfire, he told this story:
Once, an old friend from the province whom he has not seen for a long time came for a visit. They spoke lengthily for hours reminiscing about their bygone years, how the way it were, and how different things were (at that time) in their hometown. In the middle of their somewhat jolly banter – or should I say conversation – his old friend brought to mind the idea of my father running for mayor. At first, my father thought of it not a serious suggestion, but when the prodding went on, he knew his friend indeed was earnest with the idea.
But the whole thing was pointless for my father. He reasoned out two things: First, if he wins, he would have no choice but to leave us – his family – behind and that he would be abandoning his real profession, which is law. Second, with the meager salary he would be receiving from being a public servant, it wouldn’t be sufficient in paying for the education of five children who are all studying in private schools. Would that scenario ever happen, some dreams will suddenly be dashed just because of a position in government. Finally, he told his friend, “I do not know how to steal money. And if that’s the way I’m ever going to have my kids continue their education, that’s just not going to work.”
The whole point is, my father has self-respect, and even if anyone gives him the loftiest of all lofty positions one ever dreams of, he would say, “pass.” He would even say that if he became the president of the Philippines, the Americans will try to kill him the soonest, after inauguration day, because our country will really be the Philippines we ought to have and not the a country run by thieves and scoundrels and Justices who enrich themselves by way of an unconstitutional appointment by a miniature fake president we recently had. I guess it is about the Nationalism he always championed all his life.
Sometime in my youth, when it came to a realization that things were not as I understood it to be – although it was understood by me well – I said to myself, will it ever happen in my life that I may wake up in the morning and see that where I live there’s still hope, or that might witness a dawning of good things to come? I said, yes. There will come a time, while I am still breathing the air our great heroes of our past breathed before, that it will happen. That I may not wait too long as to lose every inch of that hope recedes until it would be gone forever. That my grandchildren won’t wait until their own grandchildren never even had that rare opportunity. Buddha once said that, what you think and believe will happen, will happen – I’m sure something like that.
Yesterday, that dream of mine became a reality: Thank the Lord for those twenty senators who voted to convict a thief who does not deserve another minute as our chief magistrate. Thank the Lord for a savior in the prosecution who did not dilly-dally and went straight to the point in simple but true utterances on why someone of such character no longer had any trust whatsoever (actually from the day he was appointed when all of us were already asleep dreaming of the days before that so-called EDSA II). A few, who joined the majority vote sort of bandwagon (many know who you are especially that obvious looking, grandstanding nitwit of an actor; not that simpleton-behind-the-back-gun-shooting-actor in his 70s movies; Mr. I-was-once-a-poor-chap,-but-now-look-at-me-I-own-half-of-Las-Pinas), may live to see another term as they seek it.
Crazy as it seems, but yes, I voted that “Gentle Lady from Iloilo” for president many years ago, what an embarrassment on my part. And yes, she walked-out and rode the ambulance van that promptly brought her back to the asylum where she has been confined since day one. She also calls it her home, I think. I have nothing to say to the late dictator’s son and namesake, there’s nothing to say at all, and as to The Joker of the Senate who made a joke of himself, I salute you for not confusing us by being a consistent SOB all this time. You will get all the accolades you deserve in hell if there ever was/is one. But the problem is, there’s no hell, so just avail yourself of the last perks a senator of the republic receives, because that will be your last.KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-31343232495431408732012-01-02T07:15:00.000+08:002012-09-13T04:02:18.248+08:00How to Lose Weight Permanently - My Girlfriend's Story<div style="text-align: justify;">
Since childhood, Ciel has always struggled with her weight. Back when she was a kid, there's no such thing as <b>weight management</b>. Her mother would feed her spaghetti and hotdogs all the time - for packed lunch to school. And whenever she goes home from school, she would always eat snacks like potato chips, french fries, and alike.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The problem is - for teenage girls - they need to look their best to attract boys. So, thus begun her journey into <b>weight reduction</b>.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1599679251" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="weight loss before and after" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0zY7VR7Hzt2w4NtOrkXYBH1FtYHP11DEf9T_CnOI0HRI-pild-qcTpU6fVjFZ0ElMOCs4KD6pL2qhmRLN2RnyP25TXExf03t2peyrSS6DrY36tjyUgcddfCxcZMooIObPtSo/s1600/weight+loss+before+after.PNG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ciel lost 20 pounds in a month</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
Diet Plans and Ways to Lose Weight</h2>
During her college days, the first thing she did was to enroll in '<b>Slimmer's World</b>.' The gym was popular at that period due to the heavy TV advertising showing people who lost weight because of exercising in that gym. The gym has personal fitness trainers to guide you with every exercise routines.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Is Slimmer's World Effective?</b></h3>
It did little to lose fat for her, because the 'diet' factor was not included. She said after an exercise session whether they were doing aerobic exercises, Tabata style high intensity interval training, or strength training, she and her fellow gym members would go out to eat and they still eat a lot of the wrong food. Eventually, she quits the gym and stop trying to lose weight.<br />
<br />
After a few years and few more added pounds, Ciel decided to try losing weight again - this time with my help. At first, Ciel tried the <b>Atkins Diet </b>(a zero carbs, high protein diet). The first two weeks, she lost a few pounds but the diet made her experience headaches and feeling tired all the time. It was hard for her because she has to work eight hours a day and come home already feeling deadbeat to do some exercises.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YjAhvoLGl5auF9cgQ9Kyw4Mm26d1ivxH65YVsE66QnFRNdmc-tM_FzpYZxBd7snOQRK83X3Rmc2wCVo7lbR2V2Uqrw0VkV_IiKoDzbhQxjh40BWe6p0n8rWmJSKisS97QoDW/s1600/Jonah-Hill-Before-and-After.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="jonah hill before after" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YjAhvoLGl5auF9cgQ9Kyw4Mm26d1ivxH65YVsE66QnFRNdmc-tM_FzpYZxBd7snOQRK83X3Rmc2wCVo7lbR2V2Uqrw0VkV_IiKoDzbhQxjh40BWe6p0n8rWmJSKisS97QoDW/s1600/Jonah-Hill-Before-and-After.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah Hill: Before and After</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
She also tried weight loss supplements like Lipovox and Hoodia Gordonii capsules - none of them work. And then she tried to do it scientifically by reducing and monitoring calorie intake using the zig zag method to fool her body to not lower her metabolism. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she ate 1,000 calories while the alternate days about 900 - sometimes around 750 or 1050 - never the same. She also does this with Tabata, jogging and strength training to avoid plateauing.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0sXFwMqm-N_kaJYSnE6evJAGXBpozCXmRYhJiEdHAe7EUMwWllKeNN8R4ib5uqdK6_J3gw-zqlr3FfuiVeXDEYU8mk-0bm_EpoyFFSsIMLzm3XDM8Bv5d3usUVgP8q9uscjD/s1600/snooki-before-after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="nicole polizzi before after snooki" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0sXFwMqm-N_kaJYSnE6evJAGXBpozCXmRYhJiEdHAe7EUMwWllKeNN8R4ib5uqdK6_J3gw-zqlr3FfuiVeXDEYU8mk-0bm_EpoyFFSsIMLzm3XDM8Bv5d3usUVgP8q9uscjD/s640/snooki-before-after.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicole Polizzi aka Snooki now weighs a lot lighter. Height: 4'9 Weight: 103lbs (December 28, 2011)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For 30 days, she lost 10 pounds with the current program. However, it was because she has no work at that time. It would be harder if she has an eight-hour job, unlike celebrities who have the time and the money to pursue a successful weight loss regiment - especially if looking better is good for their career.<br />
<br />
Ciel also tried fruit diet, lemon water diet, and hcg drops, but lost only fewer than 10 pounds. However, the biggest weight loss she had was when we went to Yanhee Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand (we were actually looking for English-teaching jobs there) to consult a weight loss specialist. The doctor prescribed several pills (known as Bangkok pills in other regions in Asia) to take for two months. And wow, she lost 20 pounds in a month! Such a quick weight loss for her! And she finally settled on a weight of 103lbs. <span style="color: #cc0000;">Update</span>: I discovered the secret main ingredient for the <b>Yanhee/Bangkok Pills</b>, it's <a href="http://adf.ly/CmWxO" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Now, we know why she had experienced the side effects then.<br />
<br />
The problem here is when she stopped taking the pills. The weight slowly crept back in. She tried Reductil (sibutramine) but it only partially stop her hunger cravings. The Cyclical Ketogenic Diet somehow helped stop the weight to pile up again, but fat still came back slowly. <br />
<br />
She needed something to stop the weight gain. So we scoured the Internet to find a solution and found <a href="http://realfoodrealfatloss.com/2340/lose-20-pounds-fast-naturally/" target="_blank">secrets to permanent weight loss</a> that not only help her maintain her present weight, but it was a solution for her busy work schedule.<br />
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Since she has the tendency to gain weight easily, hopefully, <a href="http://realfoodrealfatloss.com/eating-plan-for-diet/" target="_blank">Trudy Steven's eating plan</a> will permanently fix that. <br />
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<b></b>Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-64113474671943876012011-12-23T03:50:00.003+08:002011-12-24T04:43:44.624+08:00Rhian Ramos Mo Twister - Kissing Video That Tells a Back StoryEx-couple Rhian Ramos and Mo Twister hit their latest viral video in various social networking sites with their ‘kissing act’- a passionate and playful make out video.<br />
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<img alt="rhian ramos mo twister kissing video" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwKGntAKG-KhAWFYxechdXaUBcQkMWXJIUZPoUhBr5RB6HDVWa7AfJnV_LCzj3RYuC9ExU95XQQ7I2gc4nxYeMQiEgD3seAPIWFjippaffU48mOrP4F8NVKOOVJkCN7nkYwJI/s1600/rhian+ramos+and+mo+twister+private+moment.jpg" /></div>
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The video shows the 34-year-old DJ/TV host, Mo Twister (real name: <b>Mohan Gumatay</b>) and the 21-year-old GMA-7 actress, Rhian Ramos, kissing, petting and having play s3x in front of the laptop webcam.<br />
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You can search the video with terms “<b>Rhian Ramos and Mo Twister Scandal</b>” on YouTube but too bad, the copies of the said video which lasted for more than four minutes were
already deleted by the video sharing site itself due to policy
violation.<br />
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However, you can try your luck and download the video <a href="http://adf.ly/4LrQL" target="_blank">here</a>.Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-82069163117550746572011-12-05T05:09:00.001+08:002011-12-05T05:25:42.083+08:00Cute Shih Tzu Photos You'll LoveI always loved dogs. We used to have a Japanese Spitz (common in the Philippines), Terrier, Doberman Pinscher, askal (asong kalye), and a Weimaraner half-breed. However, the Shih Tzu is the best of them all - this is first time we had Shih Tzu.<br />
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They're cute, cuddly, and very friendly. You never get tired of looking at them - <b>Shih Tzu pictures and images</b>. If you are like me, visit this <a href="http://oliodigest.com/" target="_blank">Shih Tzu Photos Forum</a> for more cutie pics. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCnubwrBUZ2EDjkzOwYoIduf-lbbgaVmSv4hRPqYHKn_jVAvALQqEl87Piqozt28k8NImztElHfxheKUz29AMhrdg9y-4Llr1OtgS0GbO3-ex5yuRBkKNl3Mf99PzGjX25dTj/s1600/298559_2513404320473_1414126920_32879078_1479077112_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="cute shih tzu" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCnubwrBUZ2EDjkzOwYoIduf-lbbgaVmSv4hRPqYHKn_jVAvALQqEl87Piqozt28k8NImztElHfxheKUz29AMhrdg9y-4Llr1OtgS0GbO3-ex5yuRBkKNl3Mf99PzGjX25dTj/s1600/298559_2513404320473_1414126920_32879078_1479077112_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I need grooming! - Big Mac </i></td></tr>
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<br />Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-6838936268641047972011-12-01T21:58:00.000+08:002011-12-01T23:59:39.373+08:00Singapore Jobs for Filipinos Getting Scarcer<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulakEiugJ0wApPk2-iKQGygOuX7bS6Uz04-IxAA0bdaTLAC3ovHVCQCNaQX26Ff7eSSkh7X59gC4X3oXaIddKDXarprT_Yu6aZFyN_JQpJR6bfcIrxP4QmwmcDcEuKfc22Ln1/s1600/Food+Court+at+Lucky+Plaza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulakEiugJ0wApPk2-iKQGygOuX7bS6Uz04-IxAA0bdaTLAC3ovHVCQCNaQX26Ff7eSSkh7X59gC4X3oXaIddKDXarprT_Yu6aZFyN_JQpJR6bfcIrxP4QmwmcDcEuKfc22Ln1/s1600/Food+Court+at+Lucky+Plaza.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most Filipinos gather at the food court in Lucky Plaza, Orchard Road, Singapore</td></tr>
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<b>2011 job prospects in Singapore</b> is getter harder - way harder than it was in 2010 when both Ciel and I went job hunting there for almost four months and found no decent jobs. Only the service sector was open to Filipinos. Imagine walking inside a restaurant or a food chain and you'll discover that the waiters are all college graduates from the Philippines.</div>
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I got an Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate (EPEC) and a one-year visa to look for a job in Singapore. But it was useless since jobs-in-demand are for engineers and IT specialists only.</div>
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Today, I got this letter from Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM):</div>
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Dear EPEC Holder,<br />
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<b>Discontinuation of Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate (EPEC) Scheme</b><br />
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The Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate (EPEC) scheme would be discontinued from 1 December 2011. We would no longer accept any applications or appeals from that date.<br />
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However, all EPECs already issued would remain valid until their expiry dates. If you have not already done so, you will continue to be eligible to apply for a Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) from the Singapore Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA). In general, a non-renewable three-month LTVP will be issued. <br />
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Thank you for participating in the EPEC scheme. For further queries, please refer to our online <span style="color: #0066ff;"><a href="http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/services-forms/EPEC_FAQs.pdf" target="_blank"><u>FAQs</u></a></span> or contact the MOM Contact Centre at +65 6438-5122.</div>
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</blockquote>Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-8787945461032107082011-04-23T09:51:00.011+08:002011-12-02T04:04:16.293+08:00Sta Ana, Manila: Reminiscences of Youth<div style="text-align: justify;">
They’ve elevated the center island where we used to “escape” at night to smoke cigarettes as 12-year-olds, to at least a foot more. So much for Marcos-era retro-look, as they said these changes will aesthetically improve that part of Sta Ana, Manila. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSBggCWmp0iDKmEJk723qks4bIcIfPc1IkLiqT57xesFbiK22LbB-cgMTu3pmfAmeP3cWKzBQwQXtQMnHJpbEkGuHEmJTqtS1RHs0OOJPu6jEAYQGut_oksL5RT2VPvGPGRUks/s1600/old+houses+beside+plaza+hugo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSBggCWmp0iDKmEJk723qks4bIcIfPc1IkLiqT57xesFbiK22LbB-cgMTu3pmfAmeP3cWKzBQwQXtQMnHJpbEkGuHEmJTqtS1RHs0OOJPu6jEAYQGut_oksL5RT2VPvGPGRUks/s400/old+houses+beside+plaza+hugo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comia's Bakery</td></tr>
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Today, as I look back, I can only declare otherwise. While, even when they attempted to go “Green,” they failed. Blame it on poor taste, lack of local government budget, and foresight. Even hindsight. The same can be told of the small rotunda that interlaces M. Roxas, J. Syquia, Zamora, Revellin streets, one very ambitious “Man of God” has transformed the once (same as the center island) simple-designed, benched little part of this quiet district as a monument to "his" God. So much for "advancing."</div>
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That is why, as a long-time resident of Sta Ana, who had run-off to the suburbs in search of a new “home,” it breaks my heart to see what had become of a place where one grew up, became a man, and once dreamed within its boundaries and even its environs. “It looks so small now,” I spoke of it during a recent visit to a friend still lived there. And all I got from him was, “but it hasn’t changed.”</div>
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But of course it has changed. Sta Ana is bordered by Makati City in the south, Mandaluyong to the east, Pandacan to the north and Paco on its west. If you haven’t visited for a long time, you will be surprised to see that the Sta Ana Park, where races are held at least three times a week, is no more. Rumor has it that someone’s going to build a mall in place of the old, once art-deco structure where many great races have been held. Well, the bright side of it: no more smelly <span style="font-style: italic;">“kwadras”</span> that line Hippodromo Street. But, well, nobody lives near anyway, except for a few. Anyway in college, I used to frequent the racing club with a friend to bet on races, but only on small amounts. That place will surely be missed.</div>
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A few years ago, I read in a magazine that they were tearing down the old Jesuit house on Padro Gil (in front of the center island!), I don’t know the reason why, but it should be preserved as this building has sort of become a landmark already. Beside this is the O. B. Montessori School, where I studied along with my brothers and sisters; at least the big centuries-old tree near the flagpole has been left untouched. As a small boy, I used to wonder if those <span style="font-style: italic;">mabolo</span> fruits that grew from the Jesuit House side that dropped like flies on our school grounds were edible or not. No one ever dared to even taste these exotic-looking mysterious crops. I wonder if the famous Reverend Father James B. Reuter still resides there. He probably does not.</div>
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Nestled on a nice lot on the west bank of the Pasig River bisected by the Manila-Makati boundary is the Manila Boatclub, home of rowers and squash enthusiasts. The main building (the only building, actually) is a reminder of our American Colonial past. There is a huge and long U-shaped glossy wooden mahogany (or teakwood) bar, where weary old-rich businessmen congregate to worship San Miguel…yes, the beer. I spent many nights with friends and girls guzzling free beer from the bar, and relaxing on Holy Week on the tables with huge umbrellas at the lawn just a few meters from the murky river. The best time to go there is when someone celebrates his or her birthday. The place, I heard, is slowly deteriorating. Well, another landmark going kaput.</div>
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If you’ve been to UP (University of the Philippines), you’ll be so much surprised that the Sta Ana Elementary School looks just the same inside, only much more smaller. This is the place where I had my first chance to vote during the Presidential Elections of 1946; that’s how old I am. But if you know me personally, I’m not. I just feel like it. At any rate, in front of this imposing school on M. Roxas Street are rows of stores that cater to students and passersby. A friend reminded me of his own recollection, that, during the Christmas season, he would be there to buy gifts. One of the more well-known merchant (at least at that time) was this lady with a face pock-marked with <span style="font-style: italic;">"butlig,</span>" the english translation of which escapes me now. Of course there was this section where you can rent, for a minimal rate (and I mean 10 cents per hour) reading materials usually comics. The favorites in the eighties then were always those "Funny Comics," our equivalent to the National Lampoon or Mad Magazines. Mention <span style="font-style: italic;">"Planet Opdi Eyps"</span> to anyone who grew up in the 80s and they would undeniably recognize it. </div>
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There’s a new hospital that was built a few years back, a spanking new one in place of the old Trinity Hospital. If my memory serves me right, it’s the new Sta Ana Hospital, where you can be diagnosed of cancer and the like. Honestly, I don’t like going to hospitals, even if it means having to visit someone; a friend or even a relative at that. It gives me the creeps. </div>
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The old houses on Lamayan Street, along the Pasig River on the east side of town are famous not only for their architecture but also for its storied past. A hundred or so years ago when the city of Manila was in fact only <span style="font-style: italic;">Intramuros</span> (meaning “inside the walls”), there exist too, the <span style="font-style: italic;">“Extramuros,”</span> or outside the walls, as the story goes anyway. Later on I think these places outside the city were called <span style="font-style: italic;">Arrables</span>, and Sta Ana was one of such. </div>
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Rich nobles built their summer houses along the banks of the Pasig, just like those homes of rich plantation owners of yore. Well, some of these houses stood the test of time, the horrors of war, corruption, disease, natural and man-made disasters, echeblahblah…There are even stories that these houses are haunted, more notably the one owned by socialite Maurice Arcache. The Ocampos, a long-time political family, also still maintains a huge house there. Now they only have to clean the big pool regularly if they want to impress visitors during parties there. </div>
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Although long gone, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sta Ana Cabaret</span> (pronounced as Caberey) boasted of being the largest dance hall in the world; only old photos of it can prove this now, if you happen to know where to look for these photos. The Cansons owned this, and an article written by a certain Rey Vicente once wrote about the night club on the Philippine Daily Inquirer. All you need is to Google it. In the eighties, there used to be a place along Tejeron Street just before the Makati border called <span style="font-style: italic;">Aquarius</span>, and the façade of the old building looked like an American tavern during the Wild West. It’s gone now, and in place are commercial establishments who sell electronic gadgets and the like, and the Puregold Shopping Complex.</div>
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Not far from the madding crowd and rush is the <span style="font-style: italic;">Lambingan Bridge</span>, famous for its trapezoid span, now improved with steel watchamacallit. It serves as somehow the “official” entry point from the market street of Kalentong, if one is coming from nearby Mandaluyong and San Juan, and honestly it looks better before, less the improvements on the whole bridge today. Pedro Gil, Sta Ana’s main artery runs from the Lambingan Bridge, making a short left and right through the church, and beyond. The Sta Ana Church is about a million years old, and yet there’s nothing much to see there, although I once saw the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra perform inside its cavernous halls. It’s also a place of worship, and if you don’t really mind much of religion you can always say pass. I was baptized and had my confirmation there, as all boys do in this side of the world.</div>
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The presence of Spanish influence is still evident in these parts, as preserved Spanish-style homes are still aplenty. Our house on Revellin Street before, for instance, is the perfect example of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Bahay-na-Bato</span> house. Meaning, its first floor is made of stone, while the second is of wood material usually normal plywood these days. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Batungbacal</span> residence is one lovely sight to behold: a perfect example of Spain’s architecture. Also, there used to be a lone tennis court on Medel Street, it must be an American idea inspired by the American colonial masters’ penchant for recreational activities. I think even that court is gone now.</div>
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There’s this warning of old, that in the deep woods unfamiliar, do not go astray. In Sta Ana, the deep woods are beyond Pasig Line Street, where the motley crue of thieves, gangsters, ex-convicts, addicts, kidnappers roam. In the daytime it’s fairly alright, and there’s a small <span style="font-style: italic;">Talipapa</span> where they sell a variety of fish. But at dark, they sell drugs and flesh. Anyway, Pasig Line is the old Tranvia line built by the Americans, where the Tranvia, or an electric street car ferry people from the old city to many outlying areas. The Pasig Line brings you to Pasig, Tramo Line to Tramo, and so on and so forth. </div>
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Every town has a place to hangout. Sta Ana of course, is no exception. At the corner of Suter and Calderon Streets, accross the Plaza Hugo was Eng Nga, an eatery cum bar where locals frequent to have a gastronomic treat of Filipino-Chinese cooking. Here, one gets to sample a variety of peculiar dishes unique from other Chinese eateries that one would experience from other places like the ones in Binondo, or one of the haunts with college buddies' in Pasay where they serve stuff like <span style="font-style: italic;">Hototay</span> and a assortment of other dishes like Mami, etc...</div>
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At Eng Nga (the name of the Chinese owner), one may try one of the many favorites such as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Alanganin</span>, the very palatable <span style="font-style: italic;">Torta</span>, the irresistible, well, Hototay, and who would resist the much-loved <span style="font-style: italic;">"Gising-Gising"</span> which is the preferred <span style="font-style: italic;">"Pulutan"</span> of the residents who savour and reserve Sundays for simply loosening-up or family gatherings that often call for cases of beer. </div>
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When I was still still learning how to drive in the late 80's, I often volunteered to run errands for my dad and big brothers for the purchase of <span style="font-style: italic;">gising-gisings</span>. Legend has it that even after a protracted bout of revelry when one already felt the alcohol interfering with one's normal brain activity and purpose, one only had to finish at least three spoonfulls of the chili vegetable mix and you'll be back to where you started.</div>
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Anyway, we would all hang-out at Eng Nga's unfailingly because well, it was there. Before the old man Eng Nga passed away, you would see him manning the counter (and the cash register) while the beehive activity was going on. Many may opt to sit silently on one corner and sip beer during the afternoon before dusk, or engage in lengthy chatter, either for the latest gossip, both the latest race and cockfighting results, or whatever was the latest that day.</div>
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Basketball was big in Sta Ana, and during the summer, before and even after the Town Fiesta was to be celebrated (May 12), like a herd of sheep, people would flock the Plaza Hugo where this annual games are held. All roads lead to this place. My two brothers would join the fray, but me and my friends opted to check-out the newest clubs in nearby Makati or just hung around the neighborhood. Later, my cousin Cesar Montano (yes, the actor) would start his own league there to pay homage to the place where he grew up. Anyway, for lack of other things to do, I usually watched the games with a select group of friends.</div>
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There was once a Florofoto branch near the place we rented (before we finally left in 1980 for Revellin Street), and I wonder if there are still Florofotos in the Philippines. It's like an older version of those Kodak photo developing places. It's a crazy thought that once, my cousin (who's now in the States) and I used to compete and debate on whether Sta Ana or Paranaque (where he used to live) was the better place to reside. Because today, I have chosen to live farther away not because it's nearer to where I work, but the memories seems to have been reduced somehow.</div>
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Before I left Sta Ana, there was bitterness in me, not because I had to leave, but because the place was not the same anymore. Where I once walked the street to buy something nearby at night without being mugged, today you have to do it with caution. Where once the early Sunday trip to the market with my mother meant riding those turn-of-the-century tricycles with huge wheels, I guess today either you walk or have to use your car. The motorcycles’ number has also ballooned, creating too much traffic and pollution: That alone causes stress. This is not the Sta Ana that I used to know.<br />
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Image credit: <a href="http://certifiednut.blogspot.com/2007/08/rainy-afternoon-walk.html" target="_blank"> Certified Nut</a> (She has more to say about Sta. Ana.)</div>KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-59593301963538047572011-01-05T01:48:00.001+08:002011-01-08T23:48:47.191+08:00Santa Claus gets creative!<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9U4ZX6HS4aM?rel=0" frameborder="0"></iframe>Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-39737128243254353902010-12-14T17:21:00.002+08:002011-01-08T23:50:11.783+08:00Hubert Webb Acquittal Over Vizconde Massacre - Supreme Court Decision<blockquote>In our criminal justice system, what is important is, not whether the court entertains doubts about the innocence of the accused since an open mind is willing to explore all possibilities, but whether it entertains a reasonable, lingering doubt as to his guilt. For, it would be a serious mistake to send an innocent man to jail where such kind of doubt hangs on to one’s inner being, like a piece of meat lodged immovable between teeth.<br />
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Will the Court send the accused to spend the rest of their lives in prison on the testimony of an NBI asset who proposed to her handlers that she take the role of the witness to the Vizconde massacre that she could not produce?</blockquote><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Brief Background</span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On June 30, 1991 Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela, nineteen years old, and Jennifer, seven, were brutally slain at their home in Parañaque City. Following an intense investigation, the police arrested a group of suspects, some of whom gave detailed confessions. But the trial court smelled a frame-up and eventually ordered them discharged. Thus, the identities of the real perpetrators remained a mystery especially to the public whose interests were aroused by the gripping details of what everybody referred to as the Vizconde massacre.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Four years later in 1995, the National Bureau of Investigation or NBI announced that it had solved the crime. It presented star-witness Jessica M. Alfaro, one of its informers, who claimed that she witnessed the crime. She pointed to accused Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, Antonio “Tony Boy” Lejano, Artemio “Dong” Ventura, Michael A. Gatchalian, Hospicio “Pyke” Fernandez, Peter Estrada, Miguel “Ging” Rodriguez, and Joey Filart as the culprits. She also tagged accused police officer, Gerardo Biong, as an accessory after the fact. Relying primarily on Alfaro's testimony, on August 10, 1995 the public prosecutors filed an information for rape with homicide against Webb, <i>et al</i>.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[1]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The Regional Trial Court of Parañaque City, Branch 274, presided over by Judge Amelita G. Tolentino, tried only seven of the accused since Artemio Ventura and Joey Filart remained at large.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[2]</span></span></span></a> The prosecution presented Alfaro as its main witness with the others corroborating her testimony. These included the medico-legal officer who autopsied the bodies of the victims, the security guards of Pitong Daan Subdivision, the former laundrywoman of the Webb’s household, police officer Biong’s former girlfriend, and Lauro G. Vizconde, Estrellita’s husband.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">For their part, some of the accused testified, denying any part in the crime and saying they were elsewhere when it took place. Webb’s alibi appeared the strongest since he claimed that he was then across the ocean in the United States of America. He presented the testimonies of witnesses as well as documentary and object evidence to prove this. In addition, the defense presented witnesses to show Alfaro's bad reputation for truth and the incredible nature of her testimony.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">But impressed by Alfaro’s detailed narration of the crime and the events surrounding it, the trial court found a credible witness in her. It noted her categorical, straightforward, spontaneous, and frank testimony, undamaged by grueling cross-examinations. The trial court remained unfazed by significant discrepancies between Alfaro’s April 28 and May 22, 1995 affidavits, accepting her explanation that she at first wanted to protect her former boyfriend, accused Estrada, and a relative, accused Gatchalian; that no lawyer assisted her; that she did not trust the investigators who helped her prepare her first affidavit; and that she felt unsure if she would get the support and security she needed once she disclosed all about the Vizconde killings.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">In contrast, the trial court thought little of the denials and alibis that Webb, Lejano, Rodriguez, and Gatchalian set up for their defense. They paled, according to the court, compared to Alfaro’s testimony that other witnesses and the physical evidence corroborated. Thus, on January 4, 2000, after four years of arduous hearings, the trial court rendered judgment, finding all the accused guilty as charged and imposing on Webb, Lejano, Gatchalian, Fernandez, Estrada, and Rodriguez the penalty of reclusion perpetua and on Biong, an indeterminate prison term of eleven years, four months, and one day to twelve years. The trial court also awarded damages to Lauro Vizconde.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[3]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision, modifying the penalty imposed on Biong to six years minimum and twelve years maximum and increasing the award of damages to Lauro Vizconde.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[4]</span></span></span></a> The appellate court did not agree that the accused were tried by publicity or that the trial judge was biased. It found sufficient evidence of conspiracy that rendered Rodriguez, Gatchalian, Fernandez, and Estrada equally guilty with those who had a part in raping and killing Carmela and in executing her mother and sister. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On motion for reconsideration by the accused, the Court of Appeals' Special Division of five members voted three against two to deny the motion,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[5]</span></span></span></a> hence, the present appeal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On April 20, 2010, as a result of its initial deliberation in this case, the Court issued a Resolution granting the request of Webb to submit for DNA analysis the semen specimen taken from Carmela’s cadaver, which specimen was then believed still under the safekeeping of the NBI. The Court granted the request pursuant to section 4 of the Rule on DNA Evidence<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[6]</span></span></span></a> to give the accused and the prosecution access to scientific evidence that they might want to avail themselves of, leading to a correct decision in the case. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Unfortunately, on April 27, 2010 the NBI informed the Court that it no longer has custody of the specimen, the same having been turned over to the trial court. The trial record shows, however, that the specimen was not among the object evidence that the prosecution offered in evidence in the case. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">This outcome prompted accused Webb to file an urgent motion to acquit on the ground that the government’s failure to preserve such vital evidence has resulted in the denial of his right to due process.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Issues Presented</span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Accused Webb’s motion to acquit presents a threshold issue: whether or not the Court should acquit him outright, given the government’s failure to produce the semen specimen that the NBI found on Carmela’s cadaver, thus depriving him of evidence that would prove his innocence.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">In the main, all the accused raise the central issue of whether or not Webb, acting in conspiracy with Lejano, Gatchalian, Fernandez, Estrada, Rodriguez, Ventura, and Filart, raped and killed Carmela and put to death her mother and sister. But, ultimately, the controlling issues are:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">1. Whether or not Alfaro’s testimony as eyewitness, describing the crime and identifying Webb, Lejano, Gatchalian, Fernandez, Estrada, Rodriguez, and two others as the persons who committed it, is entitled to belief; and</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">2. Whether or not Webb presented sufficient evidence to prove his alibi and rebut Alfaro’s testimony that he led the others in committing the crime.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The issue respecting accused Biong is whether or not he acted to cover up the crime after its commission.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>The Right to Acquittal</u></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Due to Loss of DNA Evidence</u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Webb claims, citing <i>Brady v. Maryland</i>,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[7]</span></span></span></a> that he is entitled to outright acquittal on the ground of violation of his right to due process given the State’s failure to produce on order of the Court either by negligence or willful suppression the semen specimen taken from Carmela.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The medical evidence clearly established that Carmela was raped and, consistent with this, semen specimen was found in her. It is true that Alfaro identified Webb in her testimony as Carmela’s rapist and killer but serious questions had been raised about her credibility. At the very least, there exists a possibility that Alfaro had lied. On the other hand, the semen specimen taken from Carmela cannot possibly lie. It cannot be coached or allured by a promise of reward or financial support. No two persons have the same DNA fingerprint, with the exception of identical twins.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[8]</span></span></span></a> If, on examination, the DNA of the subject specimen does not belong to Webb, then he did not rape Carmela. It is that simple. Thus, the Court would have been able to determine that Alfaro committed perjury in saying that he did.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Still, Webb is not entitled to acquittal for the failure of the State to produce the semen specimen at this late stage. For one thing, the ruling in <i>Brady v. Maryland</i><a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[9]</span></span></span></a> that he cites has long be overtaken by the decision in <i>Arizona v. Youngblood</i>,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[10]</span></span></span></a> where the U.S. Supreme Court held that due process does not require the State to preserve the semen specimen although it might be useful to the accused unless the latter is able to show bad faith on the part of the prosecution or the police. Here, the State presented a medical expert who testified on the existence of the specimen and Webb in fact sought to have the same subjected to DNA test. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">For, another, when Webb raised the DNA issue, the rule governing DNA evidence did not yet exist, the country did not yet have the technology for conducting the test, and no Philippine precedent had as yet recognized its admissibility as evidence. Consequently, the idea of keeping the specimen secure even after the trial court rejected the motion for DNA testing did not come up. Indeed, neither Webb nor his co-accused brought up the matter of preserving the specimen in the meantime. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Parenthetically, after the trial court denied Webb’s application for DNA testing, he allowed the proceeding to move on when he had on at least two occasions gone up to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court to challenge alleged arbitrary actions taken against him and the other accused.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[11]</span></span></span></a> They raised the DNA issue before the Court of Appeals but merely as an error committed by the trial court in rendering its decision in the case. None of the accused filed a motion with the appeals court to have the DNA test done pending adjudication of their appeal. This, even when the Supreme Court had in the meantime passed the rules allowing such test. Considering the accused’s lack of interest in having such test done, the State cannot be deemed put on reasonable notice that it would be required to produce the semen specimen at some future time. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Now, to the merit of the case. </span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Alfaro’s Story</span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Based on the prosecution’s version, culled from the decisions of the trial court and the Court of Appeals, on June 29, 1991 at around 8:30 in the evening, Jessica Alfaro drove her Mitsubishi Lancer, with boyfriend Peter Estrada as passenger, to the Ayala Alabang Commercial Center parking lot to buy <i>shabu </i>from Artemio “Dong” Ventura. There, Ventura introduced her to his friends: Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, Antonio “Tony Boy” Lejano, Miguel “Ging” Rodriguez, Hospicio “Pyke” Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, and Joey Filart. Alfaro recalled frequently seeing them at a <i>shabu</i> house in Parañaque in January 1991, except Ventura whom she had known earlier in December 1990. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">As Alfaro smoked her shabu, Webb approached and requested her to relay a message for him to a girl, whom she later identified as Carmela Vizconde. Alfaro agreed. After using up their shabu, the group drove to Carmela’s house at 80 Vinzons Street, Pitong Daan Subdivision, BF Homes, Parañaque City. Riding in her car, Alfaro and Estrada trailed Filart and Rodriguez who rode a Mazda pick-up and Webb, Lejano, Ventura, Fernandez, and Gatchalian who were on a Nissan Patrol car.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On reaching their destination, Alfaro parked her car on Vinzons Street, alighted, and approached Carmela’s house. Alfaro pressed the buzzer and a woman came out. Alfaro queried her about Carmela. Alfaro had met Carmela twice before in January 1991. When Carmela came out, Alfaro gave her Webb’s message that he was just around. Carmela replied, however, that she could not go out yet since she had just arrived home. She told Alfaro to return after twenty minutes. Alfaro relayed this to Webb who then told the group to drive back to the Ayala Alabang Commercial Center.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The group had another <i>shabu</i> session at the parking lot. After sometime, they drove back but only Alfaro proceeded to Vinzons Street where Carmela lived. The Nissan Patrol and the Mazda pick-up, with their passengers, parked somewhere along Aguirre Avenue. Carmela was at their garden. She approached Alfaro on seeing her and told the latter that she (Carmela) had to leave the house for a while. Carmela requested Alfaro to return before midnight and she would leave the pedestrian gate, the iron grills that led to the kitchen, and the kitchen door unlocked. Carmela also told Alfaro to blink her car’s headlights twice when she approached the pedestrian gate so Carmela would know that she had arrived. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Alfaro returned to her car but waited for Carmela to drive out of the house in her own car. Alfaro trailed Carmela up to Aguirre Avenue where she dropped off a man whom Alfaro believed was Carmela’s boyfriend. Alfaro looked for her group, found them, and relayed Carmela’s instructions to Webb. They then all went back to the Ayala Alabang Commercial Center. At the parking lot, Alfaro told the group about her talk with Carmela. When she told Webb of Carmela’s male companion, Webb’s mood changed for the rest of the evening (<i>“bad trip”</i>). </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Webb gave out free cocaine. They all used it and some <i>shabu</i>, too. After about 40 to 45 minutes, Webb decided that it was time for them to leave. He said, <i>“Pipilahan natin siya </i>[Carmela] <i>at ako ang mauuna.” </i>Lejano said, <i>“Ako ang susunod” </i>and the others responded <i>“Okay, okay.”</i> They all left the parking lot in a convoy of three vehicles and drove into Pitong Daan Subdivision for the third time. They arrived at Carmela’s house shortly before midnight.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Alfaro parked her car between Vizconde’s house and the next. While waiting for the others to alight from their cars, Fernandez approached Alfaro with a suggestion that they blow up the transformer near the Vizconde’s residence to cause a brownout (<i>“Pasabugin kaya natin ang transformer na ito”). </i>But Alfaro shrugged off the idea, telling Fernandez, <i>“Malakas lang ang tama mo.” </i> When Webb, Lejano, and Ventura were already before the house, Webb told the others again that they would line up for Carmela but he would be the first. The others replied, <i>“O sige, dito lang kami, magbabantay lang kami.”</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Alfaro was the first to pass through the pedestrian gate that had been left open. Webb, Lejano, and Ventura followed her. On entering the garage, Ventura using a chair mounted the hood of the Vizcondes’ Nissan Sentra and loosened the electric bulb over it (<i>“para daw walang ilaw”). </i>The small group went through the open iron grill gate and passed the dirty kitchen. Carmela opened the aluminum screen door of the kitchen for them. She and Webb looked each other in the eyes for a moment and, together, headed for the dining area. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">As she lost sight of Carmela and Webb, Alfaro decided to go out. Lejano asked her where she was going and she replied that she was going out to smoke. As she eased her way out through the kitchen door, she saw Ventura pulling out a kitchen drawer. Alfaro smoked a cigarette at the garden. After about twenty minutes, she was surprised to hear a woman’s voice ask, <i>“Sino yan?” </i> Alfaro immediately walked out of the garden to her car. She found her other companions milling around it. Estrada who sat in the car asked her, <i>“Okay ba?” </i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">After sitting in the car for about ten minutes, Alfaro returned to the Vizconde house, using the same route. The interior of the house was dark but some light filtered in from outside. In the kitchen, Alfaro saw Ventura searching a lady’s bag that lay on the dining table. When she asked him what he was looking for, he said: “<i>Ikaw na nga dito, maghanap ka ng susi.” </i>She asked him what key he wanted and he replied: <i>“Basta maghanap ka ng susi ng main door pati na rin ng susi ng kotse.” </i>When she found a bunch of keys in the bag, she tried them on the main door but none fitted the lock. She also did not find the car key. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Unable to open the main door, Alfaro returned to the kitchen. While she was at a spot leading to the dining area, she heard a static noise (like a television that remained on after the station had signed off). Out of curiosity, she approached the master’s bedroom from where the noise came, opened the door a little, and peeked inside. The unusual sound grew even louder. As she walked in, she saw Webb on top of Carmela while she lay with her back on the floor. Two bloodied bodies lay on the bed. Lejano was at the foot of the bed about to wear his jacket. Carmela was gagged, moaning, and in tears while Webb raped her, his bare buttocks exposed. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Webb gave Alfaro a meaningful look and she immediately left the room. She met Ventura at the dining area. He told her, <i>“Prepare an escape. Aalis na tayo.” </i>Shocked with what she saw, Alfaro rushed out of the house to the others who were either sitting in her car or milling on the sidewalk. She entered her car and turned on the engine but she did not know where to go. Webb, Lejano, and Ventura came out of the house just then. Webb suddenly picked up a stone and threw it at the main door, breaking its glass frame. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">As the three men approached the pedestrian gate, Webb told Ventura that he forgot his jacket in the house. But Ventura told him that they could not get in anymore as the iron grills had already locked. They all rode in their cars and drove away until they reached Aguirre Avenue. As they got near an old hotel at the Tropical Palace area, Alfaro noticed the Nissan Patrol slow down. Someone threw something out of the car into the cogonal area. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The convoy of cars went to a large house with high walls, concrete fence, steel gate, and a long driveway at BF Executive Village. They entered the compound and gathered at the lawn where the “blaming session” took place. It was here that Alfaro and those who remained outside the Vizconde house learned of what happened. The first to be killed was Carmela’s mother, then Jennifer, and finally, Carmella. Ventura blamed Webb, telling him, <i>“Bakit naman pati yung bata?” </i>Webb replied that the girl woke up and on seeing him molesting Carmela, she jumped on him, bit his shoulders, and pulled his hair. Webb got mad, grabbed the girl, pushed her to the wall, and repeatedly stabbed her. Lejano excused himself at this point to use the telephone in the house. Meanwhile, Webb called up someone on his cellular phone. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">At around 2:00 in the morning, accused Gerardo Biong arrived. Webb ordered him to go and clean up the Vizconde house and said to him, “<i>Pera lang ang katapat nyan.” </i>Biong answered,<i> “Okay lang.” </i>Webb spoke to his companions and told them, “We don’t know each other. We haven’t seen each other…<i>baka maulit yan.” </i>Alfaro and Estrada left and they drove to her father’s house.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[12]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">1. The quality of the witness</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Was Alfaro an ordinary subdivision girl who showed up at the NBI after four years, bothered by her conscience or egged on by relatives or friends to come forward and do what was right? No. She was, at the time she revealed her story, working for the NBI as an “asset,” a stool pigeon, one who earned her living by fraternizing with criminals so she could squeal on them to her NBI handlers. She had to live a life of lies to get rewards that would pay for her subsistence and vices. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">According to Atty. Artemio Sacaguing, former head of the NBI Anti-Kidnapping, Hijacking, and Armed Robbery Task Force (AKHAR) Section, Alfaro had been hanging around at the NBI since November or December 1994 as an “asset.” She supplied her handlers with information against drug pushers and other criminal elements. Some of this information led to the capture of notorious drug pushers like Christopher Cruz Santos and Orlando Bacquir. Alfaro’s tip led to the arrest of the leader of the “Martilyo gang” that killed a police officer. Because of her talent, the task force gave her “very special treatment” and she became its “darling,” allowed the privilege of spending nights in one of the rooms at the NBI offices.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">When Alfaro seemed unproductive for sometime, however, they teased her about it and she was piqued. One day, she unexpectedly told Sacaguing that she knew someone who had the real story behind the Vizconde massacre. Sacaguing showed interest. Alfaro promised to bring that someone to the NBI to tell his story. When this did not happen and Sacaguing continued to press her, she told him that she might as well assume the role of her informant. Sacaguing testified thus: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 36.35pt 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ATTY. ONGKIKO:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Atty. Sacaguing, how did Jessica Alfaro become a witness in the Vizconde murder case? Will you tell the Honorable Court?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1.1pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>x x x x</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A. She told me. Your Honor, that she knew somebody who related to her the circumstances, I mean, the details of the massacre of the Vizconde family. That’s what she told me, Your Honor.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ATTY. ONGKIKO:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. And what did you say?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1.1pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>x x x x</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A. I was quite interested and I tried to persuade her to introduce to me that man and she promised that in due time, she will bring to me the man, and together with her, we will try to convince him to act as a state witness and help us in the solution of the case.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1.1pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>x x x x</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Atty. Sacaguing, were you able to interview this alleged witness?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>WITNESS SACAGUING:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A. No, sir.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ATTY. ONGKIKO:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. Why not?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>WITNESS SACAGUING:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A. Because Jessica Alfaro was never able to comply with her promise to bring the man to me. She told me later that she could not and the man does not like to testify.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ATTY. ONGKIKO:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. All right, and what happened after that?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>WITNESS SACAGUING:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A. She told me, “easy lang kayo, Sir,” if I may quote, “easy lang Sir, huwag kayong…”</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>COURT:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1.1pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>How was that?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>WITNESS SACAGUING:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A. “Easy lang, Sir. Sir, relax lang, Sir, papapelan ko, papapelan ko na lang ‘yan.”</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1.1pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>x x x x</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ATTY. ONGKIKO:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. All right, and what was your reaction when Ms. Alfaro stated that “papapelan ko na lang yan?”</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>WITNESS SACAGUING:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A. I said, “hindi puwede yan, kasi hindi ka naman eye witness.”</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ATTY. ONGKIKO:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Q. And what was the reply of Ms. Alfaro?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>WITNESS SACAGUING:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A. Hindi siya nakakibo, until she went away.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1.1pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>(TSN, May 28, 1996, pp. 49-50, 58, 77-79)</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1.1pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> Quite significantly, Alfaro never refuted Sacaguing’s above testimony.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">2. The suspicious details</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">But was it possible for Alfaro to lie with such abundant details some of which even tallied with the physical evidence at the scene of the crime? No doubt, yes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Firstly</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">, the Vizconde massacre had been reported in the media with dizzying details. Everybody was talking about what the police found at the crime scene and there were lots of speculations about them. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Secondly</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">, the police had arrested some “akyat-bahay” group in Parañaque and charged them with the crime. The police prepared the confessions of the men they apprehended and filled these up with details that the evidence of the crime scene provided. Alfaro’s NBI handlers who were doing their own investigation knew of these details as well. Since Alfaro hanged out at the NBI offices and practically lived there, it was not too difficult for her to hear of these evidentiary details and gain access to the documents. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Not surprisingly, the confessions of some members of the Barroso “akyat bahay” gang, condemned by the Makati RTC as fabricated by the police to pin the crime on them, shows how crime investigators could make a confession ring true by matching some of its details with the physical evidence at the crime scene. Consider the following:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">a</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">. The Barroso gang members said that they got into Carmela’s house by breaking the glass panel of the front door using a stone wrapped in cloth to deaden the noise. Alfaro could not use this line since the core of her story was that Webb was Carmela’s boyfriend. Webb had no reason to smash her front door to get to see her. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Consequently, to explain the smashed door, Alfaro had to settle for claiming that, on the way out of the house, Webb picked up some stone and, out of the blue, hurled it at the glass-paneled front door of the Vizconde residence. His action really made no sense. From Alfaro’s narration, Webb appeared rational in his decisions. It was past midnight, the house was dark, and they wanted to get away quickly to avoid detection. Hurling a stone at that glass door and causing a tremendous noise was bizarre, like inviting the neighbors to come. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">b</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">. The crime scene showed that the house had been ransacked. The rejected confessions of the Barroso “akyat-bahay” gang members said that they tried to rob the house. To explain this physical evidence, Alfaro claimed that at one point Ventura was pulling a kitchen drawer, and at another point, going through a handbag on the dining table. He said he was looking for the front-door key and the car key.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Again, this portion of Alfaro’s story appears tortured to accommodate the physical evidence of the ransacked house. She never mentioned Ventura having taken some valuables with him when they left Carmela’s house. And why would Ventura rummage a bag on the table for the front-door key, spilling the contents, when they had already gotten into the house. It is a story made to fit in with the crime scene although robbery was supposedly not the reason Webb and his companions entered that house.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">c</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">. It is the same thing with the garage light. The police investigators found that the bulb had been loosened to turn off the light. The confessions of the Barroso gang claimed that one of them climbed the parked car’s hood to reach up and darken that light. This made sense since they were going to rob the place and they needed time to work in the dark trying to open the front door. Some passersby might look in and see what they were doing.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Alfaro had to adjust her testimony to take into account that darkened garage light. So she claimed that Ventura climbed the car’s hood, using a chair, to turn the light off. But, unlike the Barroso “akyat-bahay” gang, Webb and his friends did not have anything to do in a darkened garage. They supposedly knew in advance that Carmela left the doors to the kitchen open for them. It did not make sense for Ventura to risk standing on the car’s hood and be seen in such an awkward position instead of going straight into the house. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">And, <u>thirdly</u>, Alfaro was the NBI’s star witness, their badge of excellent investigative work. After claiming that they had solved the crime of the decade, the NBI people had a stake in making her sound credible and, obviously, they gave her all the preparations she needed for the job of becoming a fairly good substitute witness. She was their “darling” of an asset. And this is not pure speculation. As pointed out above, Sacaguing of the NBI, a lawyer and a ranking official, confirmed this to be a cold fact. Why the trial court and the Court of Appeals failed to see this is mystifying. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">At any rate, did Alfaro at least have a fine memory for faces that had a strong effect on her, given the circumstances? Not likely. She named Miguel “Ging” Rodriguez as one of the culprits in the Vizconde killings. But when the NBI found a certain Michael Rodriguez, a drug dependent from the Bicutan Rehabilitation Center, initially suspected to be Alfaro’s Miguel Rodriguez and showed him to Alfaro at the NBI office, she ran berserk, slapping and kicking Michael, exclaiming: “How can I forget your face. We just saw each other in a disco one month ago and you told me then that you will kill me.” As it turned out, he was not Miguel Rodriguez, the accused in this case.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[13]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Two possibilities exist: Michael was really the one Alfaro wanted to implicate to settle some score with him but it was too late to change the name she already gave or she had myopic vision, tagging the wrong people for what they did not do. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 35.25pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 35.25pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">3. The quality of the testimony</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">There is another thing about a lying witness: her story lacks sense or suffers from inherent inconsistencies. An understanding of the nature of things and the common behavior of people will help expose a lie. And it has an abundant presence in this case.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">One</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">. In her desire to implicate Gatchalian, Fernandez, Estrada, Rodriguez, and Filart, who were supposed to be Webb’s co-principals in the crime, Alfaro made it a point to testify that Webb proposed twice to his friends the gang-rape of Carmela who had hurt him. And twice, they (including, if one believes Alfaro, her own boyfriend Estrada) agreed in a chorus to his proposal. But when they got to Carmela’s house, only Webb, Lejano, Ventura, and Alfaro entered the house. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Gatchalian, Fernandez, Estrada, and Rodriguez supposedly stayed around Alfaro’s car, which was parked on the street between Carmela’s house and the next. Some of these men sat on top of the car’s lid while others milled on the sidewalk, visible under the street light to anyone who cared to watch them, particularly to the people who were having a drinking party in a nearby house. Obviously, the behavior of Webb’s companions out on the street did not figure in a planned gang-rape of Carmela.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Two</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> Ventura, Alfaro’s dope supplier, introduced her for the first time in her life to Webb and his friends in a parking lot by a mall. So why would she agree to act as Webb’s messenger, using her gas, to bring his message to Carmela at her home. More inexplicably, what motivated Alfaro to stick it out the whole night with Webb and his friends? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">They were practically strangers to her and her boyfriend Estrada. When it came to a point that Webb decided with his friends to gang-rape Carmela, clearly, there was nothing in it for Alfaro. Yet, she stuck it out with them, as a police asset would, hanging in there until she had a crime to report, only she was not yet an “asset” then. If, on the other hand, Alfaro had been too soaked in drugs to think clearly and just followed along where the group took her, how could she remember so much details that only a drug-free mind can? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Three</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">. When Alfaro went to see Carmela at her house for the second time, Carmella told her that she still had to go out and that Webb and his friends should come back around midnight. Alfaro returned to her car and waited for Carmela to drive out in her own car. And she trailed her up to Aguirre Avenue where she supposedly dropped off a man whom she thought was Carmela’s boyfriend. Alfaro’s trailing Carmela to spy on her unfaithfulness to Webb did not make sense since she was on limited errand. But, as a critical witness, Alfaro had to provide a reason for Webb to freak out and decide to come with his friends and harm Carmela. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Four</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">. According to Alfaro, when they returned to Carmela’s house the third time around midnight, she led Webb, Lejano, and Ventura through the pedestrian gate that Carmela had left open. Now, this is weird. Webb was the gang leader who decided what they were going to do. He decided and his friends agreed with him to go to Carmela’s house and gang-rape her. Why would Alfaro, a woman, a stranger to Webb before that night, and obviously with no role to play in the gang-rape of Carmela, lead him and the others into her house? It made no sense. It would only make sense if Alfaro wanted to feign being a witness to something she did not see.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Five</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">. Alfaro went out of the house to smoke at the garden. After about twenty minutes, a woman exclaimed, <i>“Sino yan?</i>” On hearing this, Alfaro immediately walked out of the garden and went to her car. Apparently, she did this because she knew they came on a sly. Someone other than Carmela became conscious of the presence of Webb and others in the house. Alfaro walked away because, obviously, she did not want to get involved in a potential confrontation. This was supposedly her frame of mind: fear of getting involved in what was not her business.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">But if that were the case, how could she testify based on personal knowledge of what went on in the house? Alfaro had to change that frame of mind to one of boldness and reckless curiosity. So that is what she next claimed. She went back into the house to watch as Webb raped Carmela on the floor of the master’s bedroom. He had apparently stabbed to death Carmela’s mom and her young sister whose bloodied bodies were sprawled on the bed. Now, Alfaro testified that she got scared (another shift to fear) for she hurriedly got out of the house after Webb supposedly gave her a meaningful look. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Alfaro quickly went to her car, not minding Gatchalian, Fernandez, Estrada, Rodriguez, and Filart who sat on the car or milled on the sidewalk. She did not speak to them, even to Estrada, her boyfriend. She entered her car and turned on the engine but she testified that she did not know where to go. This woman who a few minutes back led Webb, Lejano, and Ventura into the house, knowing that they were decided to rape and harm Carmela, was suddenly too shocked to know where to go! This emotional pendulum swing indicates a witness who was confused with her own lies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">4. The supposed corroborations</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Intending to provide corroboration to Alfaro’s testimony, the prosecution presented six additional witnesses: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">Dr. Prospero A. Cabanayan, </span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;">the NBI Medico-Legal Officer who autopsied the bodies of the victims, testified on the stab wounds they sustained<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[14]</span></span></span></a> and the presence of semen in Carmela’s genitalia,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[15]</span></span></span></a> indicating that she had been raped. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">Normal E. White, Jr.</span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;">, was the security </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">guard on duty at Pitong Daan Subdivision from 7 p.m. of June 29 to 7 a.m. of June 30, 1991. He got a report on the morning of June 30 that something untoward happened at the Vizconde residence. He went there and saw the dead bodies in the master’s bedroom, the bag on the dining table, as well as the loud noise emanating from a television set.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[16]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">White claimed that he noticed Gatchalian and his companions, none of whom he could identify, go in and out of Pitong Daan Subdivision. He also saw them along Vinzons Street. Later, they entered Pitong Daan Subdivision in a three-car convoy. White could not, however, describe the kind of vehicles they used or recall the time when he saw the group in those two instances. And he did not notice anything suspicious about their coming and going. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">But White’s testimony cannot be relied on. His initial claim turned out to be inaccurate. He actually saw Gatchalian and his group enter the Pitong Daan Subdivision only once. They were not going in and out. Furthermore, Alfaro testified that when the convoy of cars went back the second time in the direction of Carmela’s house, she alone entered the subdivision and passed the guardhouse without stopping. Yet, White who supposedly manned that guardhouse did not notice her. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Surprisingly, White failed to note Biong, a police officer, entering or exiting the subdivision on the early morning of June 30 when he supposedly “cleaned up” Vizconde residence on Webb’s orders. What is more, White did not notice Carmela arrive with her mom before Alfaro’s first visit that night. Carmela supposedly left with a male companion in her car at around 10:30 p.m. but White did not notice it. He also did not notice Carmela reenter the subdivision. White actually discredited Alfaro’s testimony about the movements of the persons involved.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Further, while Alfaro testified that it was the Mazda pick-up driven by Filart that led the three-vehicle convoy,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[17]</span></span></span></a> White claimed it was the Nissan Patrol with Gatchalian on it that led the convoy since he would not have let the convoy in without ascertaining that Gatchalian, a resident, was in it. Security guard White did not, therefore, provide corroboration to Alfaro’s testimony. <br />
<br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">Justo Cabanacan, </span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;">the security supervisor at Pitong Daan Subdivision testified that he saw Webb around the last week of May or the first week of June 1991 to prove his presence in the Philippines when he claimed to be in the United States. He was manning the guard house at the entrance of the subdivision of Pitong Daan when he flagged down a car driven by Webb. Webb said that he would see Lilet Sy. Cabanacan asked him for an ID but he pointed to his United BF Homes sticker and said that he resided there. Cabanacan replied, however, that Pitong Daan had a local sticker. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Cabanacan testified that, at this point, Webb introduced himself as the son of Congressman Webb. Still, the supervisor insisted on seeing his ID. Webb grudgingly gave it and after seeing the picture and the name on it, Cabanacan returned the same and allowed Webb to pass without being logged in as their Standard Operating Procedure required.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[18]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">But Cabanacan's testimony could not be relied on. Although it was not common for a security guard to challenge a Congressman’s son with such vehemence, Cabanacan did not log the incident on the guardhouse book. Nor did he, contrary to prescribed procedure, record the visitor’s entry into the subdivision. It did not make sense that Cabanacan was strict in the matter of seeing Webb’s ID but not in recording the visit.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">Mila Gaviola</span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;"> used </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">to work as laundry woman for the Webbs at their house at BF Homes Executive Village. She testified that she saw Webb at his parents’ house on the morning of June 30, 1991 when she got the dirty clothes from the room that he and two brothers occupied at about 4.a.m. She saw him again pacing the floor at 9 a.m. At about 1 p.m., Webb left the house in t-shirt and shorts, passing through a secret door near the maid’s quarters on the way out. Finally, she saw Webb at 4 p.m. of the same day.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[19]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On cross-examination, however, Gaviola could not say what distinguished June 30, 1991 from the other days she was on service at the Webb household as to enable her to distinctly remember, four years later, what one of the Webb boys did and at what time. She could not remember any of the details that happened in the household on the other days. She proved to have a selective photographic memory and this only damaged her testimony.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Gaviola tried to corroborate Alfaro’'s testimony by claiming that on June 30, 1991 she noticed bloodstains on Webb's t-shirt.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[20]</span></span></span></a> She did not call the attention of anybody in the household about it when it would have been a point of concern that Webb may have been hurt, hence the blood. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Besides, Victoria Ventoso, the Webbs' housemaid from March 1989 to May 1992, and Sgt. Miguel Muñoz, the Webbs' security aide in 1991, testified that Gaviola worked for the Webbs only from January 1991 to April 1991. Ventoso further testified that it was not Gaviola's duty to collect the clothes from the 2<sup>nd</sup> floor bedrooms, this being the work of the housemaid charged with cleaning the rooms. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">What is more, it was most unlikely for a laundrywoman who had been there for only four months to collect, as she claimed, the laundry from the rooms of her employers and their grown up children at four in the morning while they were asleep.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">And it did not make sense, if Alfaro’s testimony were to be believed that Webb, who was so careful and clever that he called Biong to go to the Vizconde residence at 2 a.m. to clean up the evidence against him and his group, would bring his bloodied shirt home and put it in the hamper for laundrywoman Gaviola to collect and wash at 4 a.m. as was her supposed habit. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">Lolita De Birrer</span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;"> was accused Biong’s </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">girlfriend around the time the Vizconde massacre took place. Birrer testified that she was with Biong playing mahjong from the evening of June 29, 1991 to the early morning of June 30, when Biong got a call at around 2 a.m. This prompted him, according to De Birrer, to leave and go to BF. Someone sitting at the backseat of a taxi picked him up. When Biong returned at 7 a.m. he washed off what looked like dried blood from his fingernails. And he threw away a foul-smelling handkerchief. She also saw Biong take out a knife with aluminum cover from his drawer and hid it in his steel cabinet.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[21]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The security guard at Pitong Daan did not notice any police investigator flashing a badge to get into the village although Biong supposedly came in at the unholy hour of two in the morning. His departure before 7 a.m. also remained unnoticed by the subdivision guards. Besides, if he had cleaned up the crime scene shortly after midnight, what was the point of his returning there on the following morning to dispose of some of the evidence in the presence of other police investigators and on-lookers? In fact, why would he steal valuable items from the Vizconde residence on his return there hours later if he had the opportunity to do it earlier?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">At most, Birrer’s testimony only established Biong’s theft of certain items from the Vizconde residence and gross neglect for failing to maintain the sanctity of the crime scene by moving around and altering the effects of the crime. Birrer’s testimony failed to connect Biong's acts to Webb and the other accused.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">Lauro Vizconde</span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;"> testified about how deeply he was affected by the loss of her wife and two daughters. Carmella spoke to him of a rejected suitor she called “Bagyo,” because he was a Parañaque politician’s son. Unfortunately, Lauro did not appear curious enough to insist on finding out who the rejected fellow was. Besides, his testimony contradicts that of Alfaro who testified that Carmela and Webb had an on-going relation. Indeed, if Alfaro were to be believed, Carmela wanted Webb to come to her house around midnight. She even left the kitchen door open so he could enter the house. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">5. The missing corroboration</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">There is something truly remarkable about this case: the prosecution’s core theory that Carmela and Webb had been sweethearts, that she had been unfaithful to him, and that it was for this reason that Webb brought his friends to her house to gang-rape her is totally uncorroborated! </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">For instance, normally, if Webb, a Congressman’s son, courted the young Carmela, that would be news among her circle of friends if not around town. But, here, none of her friends or even those who knew either of them came forward to affirm this. And if Webb hanged around with her, trying to win her favors, he would surely be seen with her. And this would all the more be so if they had become sweethearts, a relation that Alfaro tried to project with her testimony. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">But, except for Alfaro, the NBI asset, no one among Carmela’s friends or her friends’ friends would testify ever hearing of such relationship or ever seeing them together in some popular hangouts in Parañaque or Makati. Alfaro’s claim of a five-hour drama is like an alien page, rudely and unconnectedly inserted into Webb and Carmela’s life stories or like a piece of jigsaw puzzle trimmed to fit into the shape on the board but does not belong because it clashes with the surrounding pieces. It has neither antecedent nor concomitant support in the verifiable facts of their personal histories. It is quite unreal.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">What is more, Alfaro testified that she saw Carmela drive out of her house with a male passenger, Mr. X, whom Alfaro thought the way it looked was also Carmela’s lover. This was the all-important reason Webb supposedly had for wanting to harm her. Again, none of Carmela’s relatives, friends, or people who knew her ever testified about the existence of Mr.X in her life. Nobody has come forward to testify having ever seen him with Carmela. And despite the gruesome news about her death and how Mr. X had played a role in it, he never presented himself like anyone who had lost a special friend normally would. Obviously, Mr. X did not exist, a mere ghost of the imagination of Alfaro, the woman who made a living informing on criminals. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">Webb’s U.S. Alibi</span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Among the accused, Webb presented the strongest alibi. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">a. The travel preparations</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Webb claims that in 1991 his parents, Senator Freddie Webb and his wife, Elizabeth, sent their son to the United States (U.S.) to learn the value of independence, hard work, and money.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[22]</span></span></span></a> Gloria Webb, his aunt, accompanied him. Rajah Tours booked their flight to San Francisco via United Airlines. Josefina Nolasco of Rajah Tours confirmed that Webb and his aunt used their plane tickets.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Webb told his friends, including his neighbor, Jennifer Claire Cabrera, and his basketball buddy, Joselito Orendain Escobar, of his travel plans. He even invited them to his <i>despedida</i> party on March 8, 1991 at Faces Disco along Makati Ave.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[23]</span></span></span></a> On March 8,1991, the eve of his departure, he took girlfriend Milagros Castillo to a dinner at Bunchums at the Makati Cinema Square. His basketball buddy Rafael Jose with Tina Calma, a blind date arranged by Webb, joined them. They afterwards went to Faces Disco for Webb's <i>despedida</i> party. Among those present were his friends Paulo Santos and Jay Ortega.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[24]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">b. The two immigration checks</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The following day, March 9, 1991, Webb left for San Francisco, California, with his Aunt Gloria on board United Airlines Flight 808.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[25]</span></span></span></a> Before boarding his plane, Webb passed through the Philippine Immigration booth at the airport to have his passport cleared and stamped. Immigration Officer, Ferdinand Sampol checked Webb’s visa, stamped, and initialed his passport, and let him pass through.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[26]</span></span></span></a> He was listed on the United Airlines Flight’s Passenger Manifest.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[27]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On arrival at San Francisco, Webb went through the U.S. Immigration where his entry into that country was recorded. Thus, the U.S. Immigration Naturalization Service, checking with its Non-immigrant Information System, confirmed Webb's entry into the U.S. on March 9, 1991. Webb presented at the trial the INS Certification issued by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[28]</span></span></span></a> the computer-generated print-out of the US-INS indicating Webb's entry on March 9, 1991,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[29]</span></span></span></a> and the US-INS Certification dated August 31, 1995, authenticated by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, correcting an earlier August 10, 1995 Certification.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[30]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">c. Details of U.S. sojourn</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">In San Francisco, Webb and his aunt Gloria were met by the latter’s daughter, Maria Teresa Keame, who brought them to Gloria’s house in Daly City, California.<span class="WW-FootnoteReference1"> </span> During his stay with his aunt, Webb met Christopher Paul Legaspi Esguerra, Gloria’s grandson. In April 1991, Webb, Christopher, and a certain Daphne Domingo watched the concert of Deelite Band in San Francisco.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[31]</span></span></span></a> In the same month, Dorothy Wheelock and her family invited Webb to Lake Tahoe to return the Webbs’ hospitality when she was in the Philippines.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[32]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">In May 1991, on invitation of another aunt, Susan Brottman, Webb moved to Anaheim Hills, California.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[33]</span></span></span></a> During his stay there, he occupied himself with playing basketball once or twice a week with Steven Keeler<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[34]</span></span></span></a> and working at his cousin-in-law’s pest control company.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[35]</span></span></span></a> Webb presented the company’s logbook showing the tasks he performed,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[36]</span></span></span></a> his paycheck,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[37]</span></span></span></a> his ID, and other employment papers. On June 14, 1991 he applied for a driver's license<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn38" name="_ftnref38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[38]</span></span></span></a> and wrote three letters to his friend Jennifer Cabrera.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn39" name="_ftnref39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[39]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On June 28, 1991, Webb’s parents visited him at Anaheim and stayed with the Brottmans. On the same day, his father introduced Honesto Aragon to his son when he came to visit.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn40" name="_ftnref40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[40]</span></span></span></a> On the following day, June 29, Webb, in the company of his father and Aragon went to Riverside, California, to look for a car.<span class="WW-FootnoteReference1"> </span> They bought an MR2 Toyota car.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn41" name="_ftnref41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[41]</span></span></span></a> Later that day, a visitor at the Brottman’s, Louis Whittacker, saw Webb looking at the plates of his new car.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn42" name="_ftnref42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[42]</span></span></span></a> To prove the purchase, Webb presented the Public Records of California Department of Motor Vehicle<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn43" name="_ftnref43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[43]</span></span></span></a> and a car plate “LEW WEBB.”<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn44" name="_ftnref44" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[44]</span></span></span></a> In using the car in the U.S., Webb even received traffic citations.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn45" name="_ftnref45" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[45]</span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">On June 30, 1991 Webb, again accompanied by his father and Aragon,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn46" name="_ftnref46" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[46]</span></span></span></a> bought a bicycle at Orange Cycle Center.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn47" name="_ftnref47" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[47]</span></span></span></a><span class="WW-FootnoteReference1"> </span> The Center issued Webb a receipt dated June 30, 1991.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn48" name="_ftnref48" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[48]</span></span></span></a> On July 4, 1991, Independence Day, the Webbs, the Brottmans, and the Vaca family had a lakeside picnic.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn49" name="_ftnref49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[49]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Webb stayed with the Brottmans until mid July and rented a place for less than a month. On August 4, 1991 he left for Longwood, Florida, to stay with the spouses Jack and Sonja Rodriguez.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn50" name="_ftnref50" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[50]</span></span></span></a> There, he met Armando Rodriguez with whom he spent time, playing basketball on weekends, watching movies, and playing billiards.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn51" name="_ftnref51" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[51]</span></span></span></a> In November 1991, Webb met performing artist Gary Valenciano, a friend of Jack Rodriguez, who was invited for a dinner at the Rodriguez’s house.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn52" name="_ftnref52" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[52]</span></span></span></a> He left the Rodriguez’s home in August 1992, returned to Anaheim and stayed with his aunt Imelda Pagaspas. He stayed there until he left for the Philippines on October 26, 1992.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">d. The second immigration checks</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">As with his trip going to the U.S., Webb also went through both the U.S. and Philippine immigrations on his return trip. Thus, his departure from the U.S. was confirmed by the same certifications that confirmed his entry.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn53" name="_ftnref53" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[53]</span></span></span></a> Furthermore, a Diplomatic Note of the U.S. Department of State with enclosed letter from Acting Director Debora A. Farmer of the Records Operations, Office of Records of the US-INS stated that the Certification dated August 31, 1995 is a true and accurate statement. And when he boarded his plane, the Passenger Manifest of Philippine Airlines Flight No. 103,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn54" name="_ftnref54" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[54]</span></span></span></a> certified by Agnes Tabuena<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn55" name="_ftnref55" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[55]</span></span></span></a> confirmed his return trip. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">When he arrived in Manila, Webb again went through the Philippine Immigration. In fact, the arrival stamp and initial on his passport indicated his return to Manila on October 27, 1992. This was authenticated by Carmelita Alipio, the immigration officer who processed Webb’s reentry.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn56" name="_ftnref56" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[56]</span></span></span></a> Upon his return, in October 1992, Paolo Santos, Joselito Erondain Escobar, and Rafael Jose once again saw Webb playing basketball at the BF's Phase III basketball court.<span class="WW-FootnoteReference1"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">e. Alibi versus positive identification </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The trial court and the Court of Appeals are one in rejecting as weak Webb’s alibi. Their reason is uniform: Webb’s alibi cannot stand against Alfaro’s positive identification of him as the rapist and killer of Carmela and, apparently, the killer as well of her mother and younger sister. Because of this, to the lower courts, Webb’s denial and alibi were fabricated.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">But not all denials and alibis should be regarded as fabricated. Indeed, if the accused is truly innocent, he can have no other defense but denial and alibi. So how can such accused penetrate a mind that has been made cynical by the rule drilled into his head that a defense of alibi is a hangman’s noose in the face of a witness positively swearing, “I saw him do it.”? Most judges believe that such assertion automatically dooms an alibi which is so easy to fabricate. This quick stereotype thinking, however, is distressing. For how else can the truth that the accused is really innocent have any chance of prevailing over such a stone-cast tenet? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">There is only one way. A judge must keep an open mind. He must guard against slipping into hasty conclusion, often arising from a desire to quickly finish the job of deciding a case. A positive declaration from a witness that he saw the accused commit the crime should not automatically cancel out the accused’s claim that he did not do it. A lying witness can make as positive an identification as a truthful witness can. The lying witness can also say as forthrightly and unequivocally, “He did it!” without blinking an eye. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Rather, to be acceptable, the positive identification must meet at least two criteria:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">First</span></u><span style="line-height: 150%;">, the positive identification of the offender must come from a credible witness. She is credible who can be trusted to tell the truth, usually based on past experiences with her. Her word has, to one who knows her, its weight in gold.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">And <u>second</u>, the witness’ story of what she personally saw must be believable, not inherently contrived. A witness who testifies about something she never saw runs into inconsistencies and makes bewildering claims.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Here, as already fully discussed above, Alfaro and her testimony fail to meet the above criteria.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">She did not show up at the NBI as a spontaneous witness bothered by her conscience. She had been hanging around that agency for sometime as a stool pigeon, one paid for mixing up with criminals and squealing on them. Police assets are often criminals themselves. She was the prosecution’s worst possible choice for a witness. Indeed, her superior testified that she volunteered to play the role of a witness in the Vizconde killings when she could not produce a man she promised to the NBI.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">And, although her testimony included details, Alfaro had prior access to the details that the investigators knew of the case. She took advantage of her familiarity with these details to include in her testimony the clearly incompatible act of Webb hurling a stone at the front door glass frames even when they were trying to slip away quietly—just so she can accommodate this crime scene feature. She also had Ventura rummaging a bag on the dining table for a front door key that nobody needed just to explain the physical evidence of that bag and its scattered contents. And she had Ventura climbing the car’s hood, risking being seen in such an awkward position, when they did not need to darken the garage to force open the front door—just so to explain the darkened light and foot prints on the car hood. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Further, her testimony was inherently incredible. Her story that Gatchalian, Fernandez, Estrada, Rodriguez, and Filart agreed to take their turns raping Carmela is incongruent with their indifference, exemplified by remaining outside the house, milling under a street light, visible to neighbors and passersby, and showing no interest in the developments inside the house, like if it was their turn to rape Carmela. Alfaro’s story that she agreed to serve as Webb’s messenger to Carmela, using up her gas, and staying with him till the bizarre end when they were practically strangers, also taxes incredulity. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">To provide basis for Webb’s outrage, Alfaro said that she followed Carmela to the main road to watch her let off a lover on Aguirre Avenue. And, inexplicably, although Alfaro had only played the role of messenger, she claimed leading Webb, Lejano, and Ventura into the house to gang-rape Carmella, as if Alfaro was establishing a reason for later on testifying on personal knowledge. Her swing from an emotion of fear when a woman woke up to their presence in the house and of absolute courage when she nonetheless returned to become the lone witness to a grim scene is also quite inexplicable.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Ultimately, Alfaro’s quality as a witness and her inconsistent, if not inherently unbelievable, testimony cannot be the positive identification that jurisprudence acknowledges as sufficient to jettison a denial and an alibi.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-right: 0.35pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">f. A documented alibi</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">To establish alibi, the accused must prove by positive, clear, and satisfactory evidence<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn57" name="_ftnref57" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[57]</span></span></span></a> that (a) he was present at another place at the time of the perpetration of the crime, and (b) that it was physically impossible for him to be at the scene of the crime.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn58" name="_ftnref58" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[58]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The courts below held that, despite his evidence, Webb was actually in Parañaque when the Vizconde killings took place; he was not in the U.S. from March 9, 1991 to October 27, 1992; and if he did leave on March 9, 1991, he actually returned before June 29, 1991, committed the crime, erased the fact of his return to the Philippines from the records of the U.S. and Philippine Immigrations, smuggled himself out of the Philippines and into the U.S., and returned the normal way on October 27, 1992. But this ruling practically makes the death of Webb and his passage into the next life the only acceptable alibi in the Philippines. Courts must abandon this unjust and inhuman paradigm.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">If one is cynical about the Philippine system, he could probably claim that Webb, with his father’s connections, can arrange for the local immigration to put a March 9, 1991 departure stamp on his passport and an October 27, 1992 arrival stamp on the same. But this is pure speculation since there had been no indication that such arrangement was made. Besides, how could Webb fix a foreign airlines’ passenger manifest, officially filed in the Philippines and at the airport in the U.S. that had his name on them? How could Webb fix with the U.S. Immigration’s record system those two dates in its record of his travels as well as the dates when he supposedly departed in secret from the U.S. to commit the crime in the Philippines and then return there? No one has come up with a logical and plausible answer to these questions. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The Court of Appeals rejected the evidence of Webb’s passport since he did not leave the original to be attached to the record. But, while the best evidence of a document is the original, this means that the same is exhibited in court for the adverse party to examine and for the judge to see. As Court of Appeals Justice Tagle said in his dissent,<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn59" name="_ftnref59" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[59]</span></span></span></a> the practice when a party does not want to leave an important document with the trial court is to have a photocopy of it marked as exhibit and stipulated among the parties as a faithful reproduction of the original. Stipulations in the course of trial are binding on the parties and on the court.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The U.S. Immigration certification and the computer print-out of Webb’s arrival in and departure from that country were authenticated by no less than the Office of the U.S. Attorney General and the State Department. Still the Court of Appeals refused to accept these documents for the reason that Webb failed to present in court the immigration official who prepared the same. But this was unnecessary. Webb’s passport is a document issued by the Philippine government, which under international practice, is the official record of travels of the citizen to whom it is issued. The entries in that passport are presumed true.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn60" name="_ftnref60" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[60]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The U.S. Immigration certification and computer print-out, the official certifications of which have been authenticated by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, merely validated the arrival and departure stamps of the U.S. Immigration office on Webb’s passport. They have the same evidentiary value. The officers who issued these certifications need not be presented in court to testify on them. Their trustworthiness arises from the sense of official duty and the penalty attached to a breached duty, in the routine and disinterested origin of such statement and in the publicity of the record.<a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn61" name="_ftnref61" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[61]</span></span></span></a> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The Court of Appeals of course makes capital of the fact that an earlier certification from the U.S. Immigration office said that it had no record of Webb entering the U.S. But that erroneous first certification was amply explained by the U.S. Government and Court of Appeals Justice Tagle stated it in his dissenting opinion, thus:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>While it is true that an earlier Certification was issued by the U.S. INS on August 16, 1995 finding “no evidence of lawful admission of Webb,” this was already clarified and deemed erroneous by no less than the US INS Officials. As explained by witness Leo Herrera-Lim, Consul and Second Secretary of the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C., said Certification did not pass through proper diplomatic channels and was obtained in violation of the rules on protocol and standard procedure governing such request.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The initial request was merely initiated by BID Commissioner Verceles who directly communicated with the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, USA, bypassing the Secretary of Foreign Affairs which is the proper protocol procedure. Mr. Steven Bucher, the acting Chief of the Records Services Board of US-INS Washington D.C. in his letter addressed to Philip Antweiler, Philippine Desk Officer, State Department, declared the earlier Certification as incorrect and erroneous as it was “not exhaustive and did not reflect all available information.” Also, Richard L. Huff, Co-Director of the Office of Information and privacy, US Department of Justice, in response to the appeal raised by Consul General Teresita V. Marzan, explained that “the INS normally does not maintain records on individuals who are entering the country as visitors rather than as immigrants: and that a notation concerning the entry of a visitor may be made at the Nonimmigrant Information system. Since appellant Webb entered the U.S. on a mere tourist visa, obviously, the initial search could not have produced the desired result inasmuch as the data base that was looked into contained entries of the names of IMMIGRANTS and not that of NON-IMMIGRANT visitors of the U.S..</b><a href="http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/december2010/176389.htm#_ftn62" name="_ftnref62" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[62]</span></span></span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The trial court and the Court of Appeals expressed marked cynicism over the accuracy of travel documents like the passport as well as the domestic and foreign records of departures and arrivals from airports. They claim that it would not have been impossible for Webb to secretly return to the Philippines after he supposedly left it on March 9, 1991, commit the crime, go back to the U.S., and openly return to the Philippines again on October 26, 1992. Travel between the U.S. and the Philippines, said the lower courts took only about twelve to fourteen hours. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">If the Court were to subscribe to this extremely skeptical view, it might as well tear the rules of evidence out of the law books and regard suspicions, surmises, or speculations as reasons for impeaching evidence. It is not that official records, which carry the presumption of truth of what they state, are immune to attack. They are not. That presumption can be overcome by evidence. Here, however, the prosecution did not bother to present evidence to impeach the entries in Webb’s passport and the certifications of the Philippine and U.S.’ immigration services regarding his travel to the U.S. and back. The prosecution’s rebuttal evidence is the fear of the unknown that it planted in the lower court’s minds.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">7. Effect of Webb’s alibi to others</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Webb’s documented alibi altogether impeaches Alfaro's testimony, not only with respect to him, but also with respect to Lejano, Estrada, Fernandez, Gatchalian, Rodriguez, and Biong. For, if the Court accepts the proposition that Webb was in the U.S. when the crime took place, Alfaro’s testimony will not hold together. Webb’s participation is the anchor of Alfaro’s story. Without it, the evidence against the others must necessarily fall. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span style="line-height: 150%;">CONCLUSION</span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">In our criminal justice system, what is important is, not whether the court entertains doubts about the innocence of the accused since an open mind is willing to explore all possibilities, but whether it entertains a reasonable, lingering doubt as to his guilt. For, it would be a serious mistake to send an innocent man to jail where such kind of doubt hangs on to one’s inner being, like a piece of meat lodged immovable between teeth.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Will the Court send the accused to spend the rest of their lives in prison on the testimony of an NBI asset who proposed to her handlers that she take the role of the witness to the Vizconde massacre that she could not produce?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">WHEREFORE</span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;">, the Court <b>REVERSES</b> and <b>SETS ASIDE</b> the Decision dated December 15, 2005 and Resolution dated January 26, 2007 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. 00336 and <b>ACQUITS</b> accused-appellants Hubert Jeffrey P. Webb, Antonio Lejano, Michael A. Gatchalian, Hospicio Fernandez, Miguel Rodriguez, Peter Estrada and Gerardo Biong of the crimes of which they were charged for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. They are ordered immediately <b>RELEASED</b> from detention unless they are confined for another lawful cause.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Let a copy of this Decision be furnished the Director, Bureau of Corrections, Muntinlupa City for immediate implementation. The Director of the Bureau of Corrections is <b>DIRECTED</b> to report the action he has taken to this Court within five days from receipt of this Decision.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;">SO ORDERED.</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>ROBERTO A. ABAD</b><b></b></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b> Associate Justice</span>Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-32192769069534615032010-11-03T03:10:00.006+08:002010-11-08T02:32:22.633+08:00Non-Conformity [Part Two]One of the most discomforting feeling in the world is being witness to follies made by otherwise geniuses trapped in mediocrity of today’s mundane and the clichéd so-called Generation This, or Generation That.<br /><br />We wallow on poor judgment and call it an honest mistake or had made some lapses; we condone decadence and call it alternative lifestyle just about the time you already puked on it. Some have even argued that China is better off today than thirty years ago. Oh yeah? Then why are these same guys wearing the same apparel and change it every six months and call it fashion. What’s fashion sense when it is nonsense because the same Marxist idea being shelved in China today is the idea of kids today – that includes thirty-somethings who act like kids and listen to crap music they call music. The problem is we need to embrace individuality in order to progress.<br /><br /><br />Not long ago, okay five years ago, I started wearing almost fitting jeans because I felt much comfortable that way, and the same guy who laughed at the sight of my pants (one I bought at the ukay-ukay in Pedro Gil street) now tells everyone of his new-found “style,” the one of which he once saw as irksome. I didn’t have time telling him I was merely retracing the 70s punk scene though. But that was all, and I really didn’t need to. Being a very busy person that I am, I don’t have the time for idiots.<br /><br />Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide…”<br />Anyway, I don’t see the reason why a lot women these days should wear what they wear, and men wear what they wear, it’s fashion they say. Oh yeah, then why do women bathe in the sea wearing their bikinis and yet, they cover ‘em up with such and such. Maybe if got into their senses in which I doubt, then just wear the whole gamut from A to Z. Flaunt what you have to flaunt, otherwise, stay at home. The bikini is such a great invention and you put it to waste. That’s why liberated young people (and even some fat people) go to the beach and bare everything while the perverts on the fringes gawk at their art.<br /><br />Some people seem to forget that although we were created equal, the fact is, it doesn't seem the way it is. Therefore they think that in copying else’s work, they can lie in the sun and bask for some glory. Well, they can tell that to Gloria for she's seen and been there. The problem is that you just do what you want to do, never mind what the world thinks, and you’ll see if you’re going to be rewarded by it, or not. Oftentimes, just reward yourself, for at least you had the guts to share whatever talent you have, or the lack of it.<br /><br />It’s one thing to be invited by your family to Encore, Republic, Club Ascend or wherever antisepticized psychedelic funky pseudo-disco-a-go-go, and <strong>another</strong> when invited to “unwind” with pseudo-friends. Because La-La Land doesn’t feel good the morning after anymore if you were simply baited into that trap in which you don’t want to practice already. You get old, and a world like that does not belong to you anymore. I mean, partying is for kids, and if you don’t act your age, those kids taking ecstasy and superman will mock you on the dance floor without you even knowing it, and that’s crazy. <br /><br />Anyway, I find going out boring these days. I’d prefer hitting it with some neighborhood punks, but that’s all. Or maybe close friends whom I seldom even send text messages anymore.<br /><br />Otherwise, it’s with the family or alone with a good book. And probably a cold beer at that.KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-75225215714669671422010-10-15T05:40:00.019+08:002010-10-21T17:51:49.224+08:00Non-Conformity [Part One]Some of the more uninteresting yet worthy of mentioning sidelights of my existence: I am alone either relaxing with my thoughts or just plain staring blankly on a wall (at my place usually), and there is somehow that guilt feeling that what I've done the other day, or the week that passed, and even the decade that passed isn't at par with my own so-called standards. <br /><br />As some of my closest friends (and family members) know, I've had a checkered past, laden with all the unforgivable sins and misadventures my own kid wouldn't believe happened even if I had to pay him just to listen at all. But as a believer of God and all the things around us, I place the past where it belongs: In the past.<br /><br />Sometimes I wish I didn't ever had to conform to society, although I would pay an even bigger price if I did not. That's why I stick to just being myself and maybe write about it, or to conform to stuff one way or the other, in my own terms if there was any possibility to it. <br /><br />One time not so long ago, I started wondering if having a Facebook account was okay, and I do admit now that somehow I curse myself for having one. If not for Farm Town (which is such a boring game yet it makes me do something when there is nothing to read, or plain while away the time), or the interesting but intermittent shortcomings and a peek to others' lives, I would have ditched the idea of having to be seen by people as if I were in nude and being mocked. I wonder what those people with Twitter accounts do anyway, or say anyway. I just don't get it. I mean, there's your celphone in your pocket already for chrissake. Text the goddamn girl or guy if you wanted to get laid. Text all those people you want to go to bed with, it makes it more subtle instead of telling the whole world (according to Jay Leno Twitter is as public as you can get).<br /><br />I know myself, and being me, I'd rather smoke joint in the park instead of read (literally) other people's thoughts. Anyway I still have tons of books to finish, on hand and the ones still on the bookstore rather than checking out Friendster, which incidentally I'm planning to delete my own in a few weeks until I find a reason why not to. It's a good thing my partner (or whatever you call it), does not "Tweet" or check her Facebook (well she does sometimes in her office she said). Anyway, somehow Facebook does redeem itself as you "re-connect" (this term will be passe soon) with family ties and long forgotten friends and maybe classmates.<br /><br />There's something about being a man for yourself and a "Kabisote," as my college bud terms someone who can't think for himself. This is the whole point of non-conformity, at least the way I see it. And I see things somewhat differently sometimes, if not always. However, as for the advantages of technology, I do not and will never deny how it has made my life easier, especially the internet. I've learned more in less time the past ten years from forums where you can speak with intellectuals rather than with those people obsessed with the latest Zara item or the like. Anyway, my more privileged brother supplies me Salvatore Ferragamo shoes when it seems not to catch his fancy anymore. Meaning used, or slightly used.<br /><br />My father once said that there is only one aristocracy in the world, and it is the aristocracy of the mind. My little boy, who has this collection of classic books has not read even a quarter of it. One time I had this one-week vacation and I decided to read 'em all to refresh myself on the good stuff written by those esteemed guys. I must admit that after reading them, I was brought back to those childhood and even high school days of mine. Those years when all I thought was to enrich myself. An episode in-between that time and from the time I started working called "marriage," you know, a time of deep lull and disillusionment almost destroyed my faith, the pursuits and the dreams that was ahead for me. For to some, marriage is a word; to others - a sentence. But I must admit it was an emotional wedding, even the cake was in tiers. Anyway, someone once said that the secret of a happy marriage remains a secret.<br /><br />Be that as it may, I think that love is still one of the most beautiful of all of God's creations. One just has to use that creation wisely, and never mistake it as being at level with lust. That is why when my partner (whatever you call it) said I can be free from her company, I told her that I was more interested in knowing more about her than anything else, that I cannot be free without her. I said that thru text messaging. Look what the information age has done.<br /><br />And yes, I do tend to conform with things I do not agree with.<br /><br />(To be continued)KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-81859133760234634132010-09-04T04:45:00.012+08:002010-09-11T16:06:18.494+08:00I Told You So (Je T'avais Bien Dit )A lot of people have been acting as though they know a lot about things lately, especially about the recent horrific hostage drama that unfolded before our eyes more than a week ago, how it should be handled, what could have been done to avoid what happened, echeblahblah. My take on this is if you do not have anything sensible to say, just shut the hell up!<br /><br />A few weeks ago, I walked out from my own mother at their place when she revived that "abnoy" issue again, which was thrown at Noynoy Aquino during the heat of the campaign, which, inevitably failed to bear fruit. What would have been a nice dinner of pasta ended up with me being stuck in EDSA (now the largest parking lot in the world) during rush hour. Now, the issue is about how he mishandled (or as they always mention in the papers: bungled) the hostage taking by that stupid/crazy/moronic/murderer ex-policeman. Maybe they ought to know that Noynoy's air conditioner in his house in Times Street is still the one he bought thirty years ago; at least according to a friend of mine who plays Tong-its there (I'm not kidding, he has access) almost every night, while those still allied (but hey, are they thinning in numbers) with Gloria Makapal Arroyo who almost destroyed the Philippines, are wondering still how to spend their millions in pork barrel.<br /><br />I mean, these guys are to blame, but lest I be accused of finger-pointing, just think of how it would be if they had spent taxpayer's money on modernizing the Philippine National Police from the nine years (nine years!) they were in power. Especially Ms. Makapal. And lest I be misconstrued, may I add that definitely heads should roll, but don't blame my President for all the blunder which caused international outrage. The sound and fury of Bicol representative Edcel Lagman, who once, for many years wantonly disregarded and disrespected the people he represented (or misrepresented) in his district by spending lots of money in the casino I worked at before at UN Avenue never helped at all. Why? Because he should reform himself first. Talk about double-standard. Anyway, I understand how those Hongkong nationals feel, and I have always espoused justice and have always condemned murder and violence. If only there was hell, a special place should be reserved for that killer, Mendoza.<br /><br />I'm glad a lot of things have changed in Pagcor (where I work). Gone are the reckless spending days of our former Chairman for Corruption, Efraim "The Genuine Thief" Genuino, and back are the days of sobriety. Everyone now seems to be happy, and the great fear has subsided while Genuino's henchmen are now under investigation for the misdeeds they have committed. Mga Magnanakaw! Mga P.I. nyo! Now the people who deserve to be promoted and/or given merit for the work they have done for the company are starting to see the ray of light, or the light at the end of the tunnel. <br /><br />Well, that sad incident that happened in Quirino Grandstand where innocent lives where lost without any reason at all should serve as an example to our police in the future. Not that I'm hoping for another one. But beer should not be removed from the equation, because there's a cause for celebration among my co-employees, because it's all over, Genuino Flees! I wanted to say that for a long, loooooong time now.<br /><br />Maybe these evil people with nothing but iniquity in their minds thought they will live forever, and their crimes will go on as long as they want. Or so they thought. <br /><br />Such are the fate of people. Well, I told you so Chairman.KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-29461639398325221432010-04-12T01:45:00.003+08:002010-04-12T02:57:51.236+08:00Republic of Corruption and the Spirit of Nostalgia<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CMCCRD%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">The Filipino’s penchant for voting for someone he sees a lot (in this case from tri-media) manifests why Dick Gordon is way behind the others in all those surveys made from the start of this whole election for a new president thing. To intellectuals, they see him not really as a man of action he always portrays and regales himself to be – after his After-The-Americans-Left-Subic-Triumph – since well; anyone who is heir to someone else’s good work simply has to continue the good work. Anyway, Subic is still <st1:place st="on">Subic</st1:place> these days isn’t it?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In another story, Bayani Fernando may have actually done some of that ‘good work’ although he is not as visible as Mar or Loren. When you’re on TV a lot, many people tend to believe that you can solve a lot. And people may even hate you when you cannot keep those pink urinals from smelling a hundred feet away, either. Loren may be more visible, but Mar has that jingle and a better storyline; not over-romanticizing the picture as Loren's commercial goes. Moreover, after boasting you have a mother who was raised in some town in some province – especially that of Mar’s on national television – maybe she ought to have learned a little of the dialect there and save her from embarrassment. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If I were to vote (because I’m not voting, again), I’d vote for Noynoy. Why? I’ll give you a word: Nostalgia. Yes, oh do I yearn for the memories, memories of Cory-Doy, horn-honking cars on the streets to declare support, the Marcos of post-lupus years. Aahh, that’s something that needs to be back in the air – o<st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">ur</st1:place></st1:city> smog-filled air that is. Kidding aside, and aside from kidding, this is giving a brand new meaning to that “lesser evil” thing, because Noynoy isn’t even evil to start with. They live a simple life, and only 2% of Hacienda Luisita is under his name. Give the guy a break for crying out loud, the big yellow ribbon sticker looks fine on my rear windshield, so come on.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Anyway, I never believed that fabricated story of Manny Villar’s camp that Noynoy has <i style="">“Topak,”</i> and I never believed that fabricated story of his brother either, and his family once being dirt-poor. It’s funny that his decline on the surveys started with the C-5 controversy, and ending near C-4 – I mean where his purportedly humble, tiny abode once stood, in Navotas, which is still there as a matter of fact. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well, the usually well-oiled machinery of Lakas has taken its toll, thanks to the “support” GMA has given – or the lack of it. Now Erap (my erstwhile idol) still shares a bulk of the vote, not only that, Gibo has been trailing behind, eating the dust from his behind. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hey, what about Bro. Eddie? Will some just-in-the-Nicanor Perlas-in-time divine intervention from El-Shabu or <i style="">Dyos Ko ‘Day</i> save our humble servant of the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">church</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on"><span style="font-style:italic;">Iglesia ni Julio</span></st1:placename></st1:place>? You know what, if that guy wins the elections, only one will benefit. Who? <i style="">E ‘di s’ya! </i>What about JC Delos Reyes, what fate has befallen our young and yet so no support from anyone but his flock who number around, well, as per surveys: 0.3%? Oh, have I mentioned Nicanor Perlas? Well, yes I have! It’s up there after “Bro” was mentioned.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have to give it to Sen. Jamby Madrigal. I know she’s for the oppressed, the poor (well, everyone running does), but was that her I saw at the Le Gourmand having dinner downstairs from my older brother’s office at Net One Center at posh Fort Bonifacio last…well, sometime ago. I think her score is just a tad short of JC’s, hmm, around 0.2% ba ‘yon? When I say tad I mean morsel. No wonder Judy Ann is happy now, unlike some months ago when she got so furious when being disowned by the same person whom she helped become Senator of the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">Republic</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Corruption</st1:placename></st1:place>. Nothing serious if you ask the good senator from Ayala Alabang…there on Madrigal Avenue where there are definitely no poor people, save for the solitary “House on the Farm” owned by this old guy who never wanted to sell his small property to the rich Ayalas. I wonder if it still stands there or he died and his kids finally sold the patch of land for some millions. Maybe I’ll pass by sometime, but my girlfriend doesn’t live there anymore, so pass.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Anyway, I would still continue pushing for nostalgia.</p> KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-23704760504979984382010-03-13T19:24:00.004+08:002010-04-07T07:48:08.842+08:00Why i'm not voting, againAround thirteen years ago I was caught by some traffic policemen making a left turn on a no left turn intersection. This was in Tondo, Manila, a melting pot for criminals, kucheros, fishermen, bodegeros, prostitutes, boxing champion wannabes, the urban poor, the poorest of the poor, and a million stray dogs and cats.<br /><br />The penalty meted was simply to redeem my non-professional license at the Land Transportation Office somewhere, to which I had to make some payment. I never got hold of that license for a long time since I didn’t get it back it, until one day in August last year when I decided to apply for one, although I’m now one of the oldest fellows to hold a student’s license. I plan to apply for a non-pro one next week, if I finally really feel like it.<br /><br />Now the last time I ever voted for a president was ages ago, since then I never voted again; I blame this on my 50% Ilongo gene – my lazy genes – which goes the same as for why I never attempted obtaining a driver’s license. By the way, the other 50% of my genes, I reserve in being hardworking by nature.<br /><br />This is one of the banalities of my existence in this world, while one of the MAIN reasons why I don’t vote anymore is I don’t care much anymore, and that I don’t find any candidate worth voting for anyway, and if given a chance I would vote for myself. I leave it to divine providence on the future of this place we call a nation.<br /><br />These days I’m simply more interested in what I deem the single most important thing in this world for me, and it is the pursuit of happiness. I have been tired of dreaming, hoping, yearning for a better Philippines, even if it means wasting my right to take part in an election. Although of course, it does not really end there, as with regards to what is happening, and having even to hope for a little, as I see some signs of sanity. All the evils in the world would eventually die a natural death, even if it comes back knocking again and again. But it is so hard having too much evil, too much greed, too much animals in our midst. It’s getting scarier just to go out and have some fun these days, not to mention crossing paths with those idiots on two wheels.<br /><br />These days I’m more content in being at home watching stress-free programs on cable TV, heck, I’ve even learned to cook because of watching those programs on that particular channel where they feature travel and living (Travel & Living channel). I have learned to live within the boundaries of my means: buying stuff I need and not things I want. I enjoy spending time with a little boy who makes me laugh and think (because he is so smart, at times he teaches me a thing or two), and a huge dog who keeps me company all the time. Another treat these days are Manny Pacquiao's twice-a-year victories, they make Sundays quite more interesting.<br /><br />Things will never change in the Philippines, and if there may be change in the future, I guess I won’t be able to be there for it, for this change will happen in another hundred years or so. Voting and the right to exercise it does not solve anything in this country anymore: it only makes things worse. Our so-called democracy does no good, unless our leaders start realizing what they have done. It won’t change at all. What I’ll do (and have been always doing) is continue educating other people in my own way, continue sharing what I know is good. And in contributing such things, only then do I do my part. Our democratic processes do not work, it never worked, and will never work. It may work somehow, but the evil that lurks now is more powerful than the few good men.KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-63098161501260249412010-01-16T02:45:00.004+08:002010-09-04T04:39:08.032+08:00Change and Moving OnIt’s like this, whenever you reach that point when there are no more ways to enjoy the place where you live in, you leave. And in the past ten years, I’ve moved from one place to another a total of six times.<br /><br />I’d like to accept it as true that what happened to my Nomadic-like style of existence is due to better preferences and better lifestyle, but a small part of it really is that you’re tired of having the same thing for a long time. And this is consistent with all other things that you once had and cherished of whose lustre suddenly faded into oblivion.<br /><br />Cases in point are the toys you owned in your childhood, or the cartoons you believed meant life to you once. One day you wake up and the trip to the toy store isn’t in correlation to your trips to the liquor store, or braving the security detail at the cinema, attempting to see the R-rated flick – or simply the thrill of skipping class for the newly-built mall they had just advertised on the newspaper.<br /><br />Some members of the male specie have a hard time securing a bond with the female specie for a long period of time and so they wander off from their territory in search for a new mate. Men will never be ti8ed to one single woman, unless there's really no way to change the situation. In a so-called modern and civilized society, as one famous Irish playwright and poet put it, “Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.” And so marriages are broken apart at the slightest provocation, and at the slightest temptation, but well, as that same above-mentioned poet said, “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.”<br /><br />One of the more well-known incident between Jesus and the Pharisees was when Jesus was challenged with deceit by the latter whether a woman charged with adultery be stoned or not goes, “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” Those Pharisees, after suffering that heavy blow – as always when they attempt to contest Jesus over matters pertaining anything to embarrass him – went home that night and drank heavily. Some opted to get stoned. I don’t have solid evidence to back this ridiculous but funny claim, but it sure makes sense.<br /><br />Many claims as well, well, claim stories of drinking binges and parties those Pharisees celebrated to commemorate their SSE, or supreme symbol of excess: Bacchus. But again I am not inclined to believe such absurd nonsense, not unless lengthy scholarly articles were written about it in Google.<br /><br />Now, back to Farm Town.KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-47070056729932016852010-01-02T03:58:00.002+08:002010-01-03T14:56:34.104+08:00Year End HappeningsThe silvery lights from those lampposts ahead seemed to go on forever that night, and my mood was drifting to somewhere else.<br /><br />It was a few days before Christmas, and I was bound home that night on that same scenic route, contemplating on two things: how many cans of beer to buy for the nightcap, and that site I came across months before where an old photograph of that same road I was passing caught my attention, which later prompted me to email the old American guy who owned the site.<br /><br />Before I got to the historic bridge of that historic corridor of an historic town with many historic landmarks that include an historic church, I suddenly got back to my senses upon the realization that I overshot the plaza where they sold those traditional Christmas ornaments by at least a few hundred meters.<br /><br />It then again dawned upon me that I failed to buy myself a Christmas lantern – ten years in a row now. I know I’ll still be counting hence, for the <em>Juan Tamad</em> in me tells me it’s just impossible. I once bought a small Christmas tree, but only God knows where and what fate befell that tiny tree. Anyway, I wanted to buy that nice silver tree they sold inside the casino made of pine cones, and stuff. But that time I needed to buy those tie-rod ends and a couple of ball joints.<br /><br />I had a pleasant Christmas, though. Minus my late father and my older brother who had migrated with his wife and my cute little niece in a place where the weather is minus ten degrees all-year round. He calls the place Toronto, and it’s just a stone’s throw away from the North Pole. I guess it was the first Christmas I spent without getting profusely inebriated. And a month before that, I had the chance to meet old classmates who, at their ripe old age, have never been married in their lives. I’ll soon be showing photos here I guess, but someone named McAfee blocked the facebook and I couldn’t upload any of those said photos.<br /><br />I had a nice time watching fireworks spread across the city and I guess even beyond that with my girlfriend during New Year’s Eve. When we got home, I was very famished we had to pass by 7-11 for some doughnuts. I didn’t get drunk again, which is a good way to start this new year, but as I said, I was so hungry I cursed myself for not eating anything at my aunt’s place, and they had a big turkey and <em>papaitan</em>.<br /><br />So, how does it feel now? I think it will be better because 2009 will only be a memory, etched inside someone else’s mind – and not mine.KG Betitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13239868745194179303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15764569.post-35220840621718918872009-11-17T22:08:00.001+08:002011-01-08T23:45:51.323+08:00Freelance Writing ScamI saw a job posting on Guru.com saying that they require reseachers for their project. An email address was indicated on the post which was not allowed on the site. Nevertheless, I sent a message inquiring about the project. Here is how the conversation went:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><div>Hello Andrei,<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>I agree that it's a different arrangement. You need the materials, to complete the project.<br />
</div><div>The documents are valuable; I don't want to give them out without reason and consideration.<br />
</div><div>I am protecting myself, here as well.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thank You<br />
</div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Louise<br />
<div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><hr size="1" /><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Andrei;<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Louise Creighton<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thu, 5 November, 2009 8:39:30<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: Polar Bears Research<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Your arrangement is unusual. From what I <br />
experienced and know from common practices is that project owners supply their <br />
service providers with all the research materials for free. Of course, this is <br />
logical since you will be paying me for the research work after the project is <br />
done. In order to finish the project quickly, you would be sending me <br />
all the resources you have related to the project.</span><br />
<div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">My question is: do you really need sell the <br />
mathematics materials? Why not send them my way and deduct the costs after the <br />
project is done?</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><div><br />
</div><div style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: rgb(245, 245, 245) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;"><div><b>From:</b> Louise Creighton <br />
</div><div><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, November 05, 2009 4:12 AM<br />
</div><div><b>To:</b> Andrei <br />
</div><div><b>Subject:</b> Re: Polar Bears Research<br />
</div></div></div><div><br />
</div><div style="font-family: 'times new roman','new york',times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div><div>Hello Andrei,<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>The project will be around a 1,000 words. The academic level is <br />
undergraduate students. Payment would be around £250.<br />
</div><div>The topic is predominately habitat loss. The project involves mathematics <br />
on Arctic ice depletion.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>I own an educational materials business, where I sell the mathematics <br />
materials etc. online as downloadable documents.<br />
</div><div>Many freelance writers purchase these materials for freelance projects. I <br />
will refund the cost at the completion of the project.<br />
</div><div>I offer you to purchase the mathematics materials for £10, with Paypal. I <br />
therefore can receive the highest quality of work.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Any questions email back.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Thank You<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Louise<br />
</div></div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<hr size="1" /><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Andrei <br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Louise Creighton <br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Mon, 2 November, 2009 <br />
4:38:27<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: Polar <br />
Bears Research<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Hello Louise,</span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">No problem. I have finished many similar projects <br />
like this. However, heavy research would cost more. I'm wondering how much is <br />
your budget for this.</span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">I'm definitely interested.</span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Regards,</span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Andrei</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><div style="-moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; -moz-background-origin: padding; background: rgb(245, 245, 245) none repeat scroll 0% 0%;"><div><b>From:</b> Louise Creighton <br />
</div><div><b>Sent:</b> Monday, November 02, 2009 1:56 AM<br />
</div><div><b>To:</b> Andrei <br />
</div><div><b>Subject:</b> Re: Polar Bears Research<br />
</div></div></div><div><br />
</div><div style="font-family: 'times new roman','new york',times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div>Hello Andrei,<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div>The writing will be academic work. I am open to how many words it will <br />
include. It will also need to involve some mathematics; statistics on Arctic ice <br />
depletion. I can however provide you with some materials on how to do <br />
this.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Email back if you are interested.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Thank You<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Louise<br />
</div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<hr size="1" /><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Andrei<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> <a href="mailto:creighton_louise@yahoo.co.uk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" ymailto="mailto:creighton_louise@yahoo.co.uk">creighton_louise@yahoo.co.uk</a><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thu, 29 October, 2009 <br />
6:30:34<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Polar Bears <br />
Research<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Hi Louise,</span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">I saw your posting on Guru.com. What exactly do you <br />
have in mind? And how much is your budget?</span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Regards,</span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Andrei </span><br />
</div></div></div></div><br />
</div></div></div><br />
<br />
</div></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</blockquote>Andreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17777167261593644591noreply@blogger.com0