Subic rape trial sparks war among forensic experts

A number of Filipino forensic medicine practitioners have questioned the claim of the prosecution’s expert witness in the Subic rape trial that she is one of only two formally trained forensic pathologists in the Philippines.

Ernesto Gimenez, Philippine Association of Forensic Medicine (PAFM) president, said Dr. Raquel del Rosario-Fortun is a self-proclaimed expert who believes that she is above other forensic experts, including those working for the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police.

"Theories from books do not make you an expert," Gimenez said. "My members are prodding me, marami nagagalit sa kanya (Many of them are angry at her)."

Gimenez said it is unfair for Fortun to underestimate her colleagues in the medical profession.

"That lady is claiming that it is a requirement to be trained abroad, there are so many people who have gone abroad to undergo training," he said.

Gimenez, a consultant at the University of Sto. Tomas Hospital and a special lecturer on forensic medicine at the St. Luke’s Medical Center, Fatima University and De La Salle University, said he himself trained abroad with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles Police Department and the New York Police Department.

"It does not mean that I can already claim that I am an expert," he said.

"Legal medicine is a little bit complex. It is not fair to be claiming that there are only two of them (forensic pathologists). I am not casting aspersions here, we just want to clarify," he added.

Gimenez lashed out at Fortun for claiming that the Florence Test which is being used to detect the presence of seminal fluid in a specimen is "obsolete" and "unreliable."

Reliability is reflective on the one who is doing it and the Florence Test has been the routinary initial test, he added.

The Florence Test was used in PNP Crime Laboratory tests which showed that no seminal stains were found in Nicole’s underwear and the condom allegedly used by Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, the principal accused in the rape case involving four US Marines.

Testifying for the prosecution in the Subic rape case Tuesday, Fortun identified herself as one of only two "real" forensic pathologists in the Philippines, along with Ma. Cecilia Lim of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital.

Fortun told the Makati City regional trial court (RTC) hearing the Subic rape trial that the PNP is using a "very, very old test" in investigating the Subic rape case, which was first introduced in 1896 or two years before the declaration of Philippine independence from Spain.

The method is "non-specific," and that it is no longer being mentioned in modern day medical literature because it cannot be relied upon, she added.

On the other hand, Lim, the only other "real" forensic pathologist according to Fortun, said forensics is a specialty training on crime scene investigation which gives her and Fortun "the ability to correlate crime scene findings, autopsy findings, microscopic findings and laboratory findings with medicine."

"We are the only forensic pathologists in the Philippines, you don’t even have to say formally," she told The STAR in an interview.

"Some pathologists claim that they are also trained, but they are not. It’s just rotation. There is a big difference between their (other forensic doctors) training and ours."

Lim said that under the roster of the Philippine Society of Pathologists (PSP), she and Fortun are the only ones recognized in the country as forensic pathologists.

"Those people are different from us and they are not members of my society. You have to show docs that you are trained. Marami na kasi sa Pilipinas ang nagasasabi na ganito ako at ganun, pero pagdating sa documents to prove it, wala (Many of them in the Philippines would say that we are this and that, but when it comes to documents to prove their claim, they have none)."

However, private prosecutor Evalyn Ursua said there is no formal training on forensic pathology being offered in the Philippines. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe