EDITORIAL – A forensic expert falls

It’s bad enough that the nation lacks capable forensic experts. What makes the situation more disheartening is when the top medico-legal examiner of the National Bureau of Investigation himself stands accused of extorting money in exchange for a false forensic medical report. Dr. Maximo Reyes was arrested this week by a combined team from his own bureau, the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response.

The arrest was in response to a complaint from the owner of a hospital in Carmen, Pangasinan where a patient had died six days after undergoing a caesarian section. The hospital wanted clearance from any culpability in the death so the owner, Dr. Lenet Chan, had asked the local NBI office to conduct an autopsy. When Chan asked the local NBI medico-legal officer, Dr. Jet Castro, for the findings, the hospital owner was allegedly told to get the report in Manila from Reyes himself, and to have P200,000 ready. Chan then sought help from authorities.

Reyes will have his day in court. In the meantime, the public can only wonder how many medico-legal reports have been fabricated for a fee by the NBI, and how much injustice can be attributed to those fake findings. Such reports can be decisive factors in court cases. Then again, why should the public be surprised? There are prosecutors and judges who can be bought. Why not medico-legal offi-cers?

When justice can be bought, poor litigants do not stand a chance. This latest scandal can only further erode public trust in the nation’s criminal justice system. Forensic medicine in this country has a long way to go. Years ago, during the furor over Filipina domestic helper Flor Contemplacion, we were humiliated when US forensic experts upheld the findings of the Singaporeans and threw out the report of the NBI.

By this time, Philippine law enforcement agencies should be pushing for the modernization of their forensic capabilities, which could greatly improve criminal investigation. But how can this be possible when medico-legal officers are more concerned about making money than upgrading their equipment or improving their craft?