MikeLigalig.com

By Miko Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Shrieks of joy greeted the six men acquitted by the Supreme Court in the Vizconde massacre as they stepped out of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City Tuesday.

Hubert Webb, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Hospicio Fernandez, Antonio Lejano and Peter Estrada were all smiles.

Webb, the principal suspect in the ghastly killings of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela and Jennifer, was mobbed every step of his way out.

“I want to thank God for being by our side especially with my family,” he told reporters in a hastily arranged meeting at the NBP conference room.

“I am grateful for the truth. The truth did come out. From the start we already said we’re innocent and we believed in the system. We did not run away.”

Webb lashed at critics who said that his family bought off the magistrates.

He said that if claims that his father, former Sen. Freddie Webb, wielded his influence “why would I allow myself to be jailed for 15 years.”

“Four thousand days,” he said. “I should have been freed a long time ago if the allegations were true.”

Forgiveness, hot bath

He said one of the things he learned in jail was “to forgive the people” who caused him harm.

The elder Webb spoke about his teenage son and his relationship with him while being incarcerated. He was about to share plans of a wedding with his son’s mother when he suddenly stopped talking and his eyes glistened.

Across the hall, teary-eyed siblings entered the room and looked at their brother, clad in regulation orange shirt. Webb put his head on the table and appeared to keep his composure but tears soon streamed down his face.

His brother Jason walked past prison guards and the press, opened his arms and embraced Hubert.

“One hot bath!” Estrada said when asked what he planned to do next.

Fernandez’s wish seemingly came out of his common-law wife.

“We will get married,” Anna Crame, 34, blurted out as Fernandez gave a hearty chuckle. He was profuse in expressing gratitude to Anna, saying if she wasn’t tough as nails, their relationship would not last three years “and counting.”

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