Conducting NBI Forensic Exam in Dacera Case, Says Justice Department Chief

MANILA – The National Bureau of Investigation has finished its forensic examination of Christine Dacera’s specimens, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday.

“The NBI has completed its forensic examination of tissues obtained from the subject’s remains. He is currently coordinating with the Makati Medical Center on related issues, ”Guevarra told reporters in a message, without disclosing the results.

“I will let the NBI release the results… I will not get ahead of the NBI. I think they will release their findings very soon, ”he added.

The tissues, Guevarra said, refer to those of certain organs, as well as Dacera’s urine, which the NBI forensic team collected in the city of General Santos on January 9, the day before she was buried.

The NBI recovered 3 boxes of biological samples, including about 100 ml of urine.

The new autopsy was performed 8 days after the 23-year-old flight attendant was found unconscious in a bathtub at the City Garden Grand Hotel in Makati City after a night out.

Her friends rushed her to Makati Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The PNP medico-legal report indicated that he died due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm. But the Makati City Police decided to file rape and homicide complaints with the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office against the 11 occupants of hotel room 2209, who were all friends of Dacera and self-confessed members of the LGBT community.

Instead of bringing a case to court, the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office said the evidence was insufficient to indict the 11 defendants and ordered a preliminary investigation into the complaint, as well as the release of the 3 defendants detained by the police. .

The NBI intervened after Guevarra found that the police investigation “was not exhaustive enough.”

The NBI’s retrieval of urine from Dacera’s body raised questions about the credibility of the investigations, as copies of the PNP medico-legal report that appeared online showed that her urinary bladder was allegedly empty at the time of the first autopsy.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun said it’s a question of who between the PNP and the NBI was telling the truth, and who was supported by the proper documentation.

NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin insisted that it was still possible to retrieve urine from a corpse.

Added to the questions is the PNP’s admission that the first autopsy was performed after embalming, a process that involves draining the blood and introducing formalin-based fluids into the body.

The Dacera family has filed a complaint of gross negligence and gross incompetence against Police Commander Michael Nick Sarmiento, the PNP medico-legal officer who performed the first autopsy.

NEXT STEPS

Guevarra said the NBI would now search the phone records of those tagged in the alleged violation.

“The NBI digital forensic team will now proceed to examine the data on the mobile phones of persons of concern,” he said.

The list of persons of interest has now been expanded from those in room 2209 to those in room 2207, which Dacera visited the night before her death.

All the occupants of room 2207 have reported to the NBI.

Guevarra confirmed that some of the persons of interest had undergone drug tests.

“I understand that some of them have undergone drug tests and the rest will, too. I will let the NBI release the results, “he said in response to a query from ABS-CBN News.

On Friday, Valentine Rosales or Alain Chen, one of the occupants of room 2209 and one of the respondents, shared images on Facebook showing him and 4 other respondents testing negative for drug use.

The other 4 respondents who also took the drug test were Jezreel Rapinan, Rommel Galido, John Pascual dela Serna III, and Gregorio Angelo de Guzman.

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