December 19, 2019 | 6:24pm
MANILA, Philippines — At least three of the female victims in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre experienced sexual abuse, according to a Quezon City court.
The ruling of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 221 noted that "some of the female victims tested positive for the presence of semen."
Based on the autopsy of PNP Crime Laboratory medico-legal officer Dean Cabrera, victims Rahima Palawan, Leah Dalmacio and Cecil Lechonsito tested positive to the presence of semen.
This led to the conclusion that the victims suffered sexual abuse or sexual contact.
According to the autopsy report, Palawan sustained four gunshot wounds in the trunk from two or more assailants.
Palawan joined the convoy of the group filing the certificate of candidacy for governor of Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu as she was related to the now Maguindanao lawmaker's sisters Bai Eden Mangudadatu and Bai Farina Mangudadatu.
Toto's wife Bai Genalin Mangudadatu invited Palawan to join the filing in November 2009.
Dalmacio, former associate editor of Soccsksargen Today and columnist of News Focus, sustained nine gunshot wounds in the head, trunk and extremities.
Autopsy report showed that Dalmacio's left ring finger was amputated after death. The medico-legal officer also testified that, based on her injuries, she suffered extreme pain.
Lechonsito, meanwhile, got seven gunshot wounds with possibly two or more assailants. Some shots were distant but one was a contact shot that entered her tongue while the gunman was in front of her.
Lechonsito was not actually part of the Mangudadatu convoy. She was riding a red Toyota Vios on its way to Cotbato City Hospital to bring her husband Eduardo Lechonsito for a medical check-up.
Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes found 43 people, including Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr., guilty beyond reasonable doubt of 57 counts of murder.
The court sentenced life imprisonment for 28 principal suspects while 15 others were also found guilty as accessories and were sentenced to at least six years in prison.
