UN rapporteur to kickstart Philippine pathology upgrade

MANILA, Philippines — With the Philippines’ top forensic pathologist decrying irregularities in many investigations of wrongful deaths, this week’s visit from a United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings is expected to kickstart the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s plan to install at least one forensic pathologist in each of the country’s 17 regions.

Chilean physician Morris Tidball-Binz, who specializes in forensic science, human rights and humanitarian action, is set to meet this week with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo as well as with officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, the National Prosecution Service and several civil society organizations.

During his three-day visit, Tidball-Binz is expected to meet with Filipino physicians as part of the DOJ’s capacity building for forensic pathology.

Remulla said Tidball-Binz’s visit is crucial to the DOJ’s plan to install at least one forensic pathologist in each of the 17 regions.

He said there are currently only two forensic pathologists in the country, including top forensic expert Dr. Raquel Fortun, who has decried alleged misuse of some of her findings by law enforcement agencies, including the DOJ.

“Of course, if there are murders or there are deaths that are untimely in the provinces, at least they can help us with investigations. If our people are trained already in the art and science of forensic pathology, we will have experts determining the results,” Remulla said.

“The long-term effect is really capacity building for disasters. Remember Yolanda where there were thousands of bodies that had to be processed,” he said, referring to the deadly super typhoon that hit the country in 2013.

“International teams of forensic pathologists went here to help us, and the special rapporteur was part of that. He welcomed our invitation (which) was more of a follow-up on an agreed program that we had in the UNJP (UN Joint Program) for capacity building of our forensic pathologists,” he added.

Recently, Fortun decried how the DOJ “twisted” her findings in the murder case of labor leader Manny Asuncion, which prosecutors used in dismissing the charges against 17 police officers who allegedly killed him.

Also, she bared at a recent press conference that there were irregularities in the autopsy done by police on drug war victim Kian delos Santos, calling it an “autop-silip” or superficial forensic examination.

Forensic expert

While the timing of Tidball-Binz’s visit could ruffle feathers among Filipino politicians and other former officials of the Duterte administration facing an International Criminal Court (ICC) probe, the DOJ stressed that the special rapporteur’s visit would be in his capacity as a forensic pathology expert to train some of the country’s doctors in assisting law enforcement agencies.

Tidball-Binz is known globally for his pioneering the application of forensic science to human rights investigations for disappearances in Argentina.

From 2004 to 2020, he served the International Committee of the Red Cross, the world’s only humanitarian organization that has forensic capacity used exclusively for humanitarian purposes.

In his time at the ICRC, he assisted in the creation of the ICRC Forensic Unit and served as the director until 2017, then proceeded to head the forensic operation for the Humanitarian Project Plan.

The Missing Persons Project was launched by the ICRC in 2018 to assist in the development of new guidelines for the prevention and resolution of missing persons cases, of which Tidball-Binz was a forensic manager until 2020.

On April 1, 2021, Tidball-Binz was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

“His significant contributions to forensic science, human rights and humanitarian actions have led to the awarding of two honoris causa doctorates. To highlight his dedication to the field of forensic pathology and its development for the past 35 years, he has traveled to over 70 countries in all regions to carry out capacity-building missions, fact-finding initiatives and technical evaluations,” the DOJ added.

Tidball-Binz will be in the country until Feb. 9.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, one of the officials likely to be investigated by prosecutors of the ICC, said he has no issue with the arrival of Tidball-Binz as long as his visit would have nothing to do with investigation on alleged crime against humanity against the Duterte administration.

“Is that an admission that the DOJ can no longer do its jobs? Technical expertise? As long as he is not a prosecutor of the ICC, I’ve no problem with that,” Dela Rosa told reporters in Filipino when asked about Tidball-Binz’s visit.