The Philippine Online Chronicles

Ampatuan lawyer Sigfrid Fortun has called into question the results of the autopsies done on the bodies of some of the victims of the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre because the right autopsy tools were allegedly not used.

According to Fortun, police medico-legal officer Chief Inspector Dean Cabrera did not use proper autopsy tools like a microscope, a retractable probe, or X-ray machine in examining the bodies of 12 of the 57 victims, but instead used a magnifying lens and banana-cue sticks.

Cabrera responded to Fortun, saying, “While our equipment and methods are admittedly dated, they had no bearing on the final findings,” reported the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

He added that he had performed the autopsies in accordance with "standard practice," despite using unsophisticated equipment, because an X-ray machine, testing kits, probes and microscopes were unavailable at the Philippine National Police Crime Lab at Koronadal, South Cotabato.

Fortun also pointed to inconsistencies in Cabrera’s reports, saying that while Cabrera’s preliminary report pegged the bodies to be in an "early state of decomposition," his final report said that they were in an "advanced state of decomposition." Cabrera said during the hearing that this may have been due to a typographical error.

Prosecution lawyer Nena Santos, who represents Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife and two sisters were killed in the massacre, dismissed Fortun’s allegations, saying, “That does not have any bearing in the case, anyway.”

“They didn’t disprove that the victims died of gunshot wounds," she said.

“The use of the banana cue sticks to probe the gunshot wounds did not in any way change the cause of death, [which was the] gunshot wounds,” Cabrera clarified.

Alleged sexual abuse

Fortun also questioned Cabrera’s findings suggesting that three of the female victims had been sexually abused prior to being killed. The prosecution is currently considering pressing additional charges of rape against the massacre suspects.

According to the acid phosphatase detection test used by Cabrera, seminal fluids were present in the victims’ vaginal canals. The women were also found with their lower garments pulled down.

Cabrera admitted that the test used was “only a field test,” and more procedures were needed to establish that the women were indeed sexually abused.

“It (acid phosphatase test) was the only technology available in the PNP crime lab in Koronadal," Cabrera said.

He added that it was possible that the womens’ garments had slipped down due to abdominal bloating and skin slippage, which occurs during the early parts of decomposition.

To address this, the prosecution is planning on running DNA tests comparing the seminal fluids found on the womens’ bodies and those of the massacre suspects. A total of 196 individuals have been charged with 57 counts of murder in connection with the massacre.