MANILA, Philippines — Forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun shed light yesterday on the “sloppy” investigation conducted on the body of Kian Loyd delos Santos, whose death at the hands of policemen in 2017 exposed the brutality of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
“It’s a very sloppy investigation, even considering that this was really a high-profile case because it was covered by media and many were interested in it,” Fortun, speaking partly in Filipino, said in an interview over dzBB radio.
She said the autopsy report was incomplete and that she found numerous lapses in how authorities examined the teenager’s body.
For instance, the autopsy report released by the Philippine National Police and Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) found two bullet wounds in the victim’s head and a third in the left side of his body.?“The question is, while you identified the entrance (of the bullets), you did not mention what happened to the bullet. There was no other hole for exit wound,” she said.
Fortun said she recalled finding a fragment of a bullet near the neck area of Delos Santos’ skeletal remains after it underwent X-ray recently.
She said the bullet found in the neck area hit the eighth rib on the left side and went up the gap between the first rib and the clavicle bone. Interpreting these details, Fortun said: “The shooters must have been on the left side.” “For you to hit the trajectory like that, the shooters were on the left and unsure whether higher or farther (in position). But, definitely, the two shots were aimed,” she explained.
Also, the expert slammed the conviction of the police officers who killed Delos Santos, considering that the evidence against them were allegedly incomplete autopsy findings.
“Looking back, you mean that’s the evidence presented by the prosecution?” said Fortun. “That’s shallow and riddled with lapses and holes.”
Former police officers Arnel Oares, Jeremias Pereda and Jerwin Cruz were found guilty for killing Delos Santos during what they reported was an illegal drugs operation in Caloocan City in August 2017.
Delos Santos’ skeletal remains were exhumed after the five-year lease for his tomb at the La Loma Cemetery expired. Fortun reexamined his remains with permission from the family.
Sought for his reaction on Fortun’s so-called “autop-silip” which has led her to criticize the original autopsy report, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said he is “working on that already.” Referring to Fortun’s findings as the second autopsy report on Delos Santos, Remulla said that apart from it, some other drug war-related documents will be turned over to him for review.
He emphasized that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) – an attached agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ) – is focused on investigating the drug war cases.
He added that families of drug war victims will also visit the NBI for a dialogue.
“There’s a turnover of documents to me and the NBI is working on these cases. We’re just doing the procedure for the victims’ families to come forward to the NBI and to have a dialogue with them for their testimonies to be heard,” Remulla said.
When Fortun presented her second postmortem examination of Delos Santos’ body, she called out the autopsy report prepared by PAO medical examiners as a “red flag.”?Asked if Fortun’s findings could be presented to the International Criminal Court, Remulla maintainedthat the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, so all documents pertaining to the drug war cases being investigated shall be turned over to the Office of the Solicitor General and not to any international group.
“There is no procedure by which the ICC can operate here in spite of their claim. There is no agreed procedure because we are not (ICC) members anymore,” he said. – With Robertzon Ramirez
?UN rapporteur’s visit
The DOJ chief clarified that the visit of UN special rapporteur Morris Tidball-Binz is for the “capacity building” of the medical corps of the Philippines so that the country will be ready for emergencies and wrongful death situations in terms of autopsy and forensic pathology and not as a special rapporteur.
Tidball-Binz, a medical doctor from Chile who specializes in forensic science, human rights and humanitarian action, is the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary killings.
“We’re starting to build a corps of medical specialists who can work on wrongful death situations and of course who can work on disaster identification, if there are victims. That’s why this capacity building is one of the commitments we have with the United Nations,” he said.
Remulla said the United Nations Joint Program will fund the capacity building program.