(CNN Philippines) — More than a week has passed since the milk tea incident that killed two, but the question as to what caused their deaths still remains unanswered.
The Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory has been working on the toxicology report since it obtained biological samples from the casualties, ErgoCha Milk Tea House owner William Abrigo and customer Suzaine Dagohoy.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun questioned the capability of our country’s investigators and authorities, including their equipment, to properly examine the biological samples from the victims.
Poisoning cases are difficult to solve, and the absence of a proper death investigation system does not help, said Fortun.
Authorities are looking into different scenarios that led to the death of Abrigo and Dagohoy and the hospitalization of Dagohoy’s boyfriend Arnold Aydalla, who all took a sip from the Hokkaido milk tea they ordered from ErgoCha last April 9.
The Department of Health (DOH) on April 13 said there were no toxic substances found in the milk tea in the preliminary result of the investigation.
Related: No toxic substance found in milk tea samples
The result was set to be released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Friday, but it said it is still waiting for the results of the additional tests on the milk tea as the testing is still ongoing. Instead, the result may be released next week.
Watch: FDA to release report on milk tea incident
Supt. Marissa Bruno, spokesperson of the Manila Police District (MPD), said that at this point in the investigation, authorities are not ruling out the possibility that it was an accident.
“Halimbawa na ito naman ay hindi sinasadya ng may-ari ng establishment, pwedeng itong kaso ay reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.”
She said it is best to just wait for the test results before making any conclusions.
Investigators are not banking on a conclusive toxicology report.
Bruno added that the investigation may take four more weeks before the toxicology report is completed.
But, Fortun said there is no assurance that the investigation would really be completed after the said time.
Drawing from her experience, Fortun said she had seen local laboratory results that ended with more questions and no answers.
“They just went through the motions of doing some tests pero kapag lumabas, it really does not address the problem,” she said.
The Manila Police District has yet to identify a suspect.
Watch: Manila Police District probes milk tea incident
CNN Philippines’ AC Nicholls and Anna Estanislao contributed to this report.
