THE Supreme Court ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to show proof that it submitted to a Paranaque court the semen specimen taken from one of the victims of the Vizconde massacre.
In a resolution, the SC ordered the NBI to explain the conflicting representations in its April 27, 2010 Compliance and Manifestation that the specimen was already turned over to the Paranaque RTC branch 274 as early as 1996.
On its 1997 letter, the NBI categorically stated that "the specimen gathered is still existing and in the custody of the Bureau" as of April 23, 1997.
The semen specimen was taken from Carmela Vizconde, who was raped before she was murdered along with her mother Estelita and younger sister Jennifer insider their house in Parañaque City on June 30,1991.
Last April, the SC approved Hubert Webb's, principal accused, request to submit for DNA analysis the specimen and see if findings produced a match with his DNA. Webb wanted to prove that he was not involved in the rape and murder.
The high court has tapped the University of the Philippines Natural Science and Research Institute (UP-NSRI) to conduct the test.
However, in a letter dated May 13, 2010, UP-NSRI's Maria Corazon De Ungria informed the court that its DNA Analysis Laboratory has not received any specimen from the NBI nor from the Parañaque RTC.
In its five-page compliance report, Deputy Director for Technical Services lawyer Reynaldo Esmeralda informed the SC that the specimen is no longer in its custody.
But the staff members of the Paranaque RTC denied that the specimen was with them.
This prompted the Webb family to ask the court to make the bureau accountable for the lost specimen, if it really was gone, considering that it is a vital evidence.
Webb's conviction was affirmed by the CA on December 15, 2005 through a division then composed of Associate Justices Rodrigo Cosico, Regalado Maambong and Lucenito Tagle.
The case is now under review of the SC through petition for review filed by the Webb seeking reversal of their conviction. (JCV/Sunnex)