Lawyer now claims Maguindanao massacre victims 'poisoned'

MANILA, Philippines -  A defense lawyer in the “Maguindanao massacre” multiple murder trial yesterday attempted to discredit an autopsy done by a medico-legal officer by saying the latter did not rule out the possibility that some of the victims had died of poisoning.

Lawyer Charlton Romero, who represents suspects Mohamad Simpal Sangki and Inspector Ariel Diongon, questioned Dr. Ruperto Sumbilon Jr. on his failure to conduct an examination on whether the victims whose bodies he autopsied had been poisoned.

Sumbilon, a medico-legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation, earlier testified on his autopsy reports on the remains of victims Rasul Daud and Norton Edsa.

After cross-examination of Sumbilon, Romero told reporters that Sumbilon “did not pursue other angles” as to the possible cause of death of the two victims, who were deemed to have died of gunshot wounds.

Romero said that while “the obvious thing to do” was to check the gunshot wounds the victims sustained, he noted that Sumbilon should have checked if the victims were “intoxicated or poisoned beforehand.”

“You have to have certain protocols. If you omit certain steps, the conclusion or opinion (of the witness) becomes doubtful,” Romero said, adding that it was still up to Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to weigh Sumbilon’s testimony.

According to Romero, the expert opinion presented by prosecution witnesses should be “grounded on protocol.”

There are 196 persons charged with multiple murder before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 in connection with the atrocities in Ampatuan town.

These include members of the Ampatuan clan – particularly patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son and namesake, former Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Jr. – and their alleged supporters.

There are 57 counts of murder filed before the court for the identified victims of the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre. The remains of the 58th victim have yet to be found.