Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 29) — The family of Christine Dacera on Friday insisted that a DNA test be performed on the tissue samples and organs mentioned in the recent medico-legal report of the Philippine National Police that stated the flight attendant died of natural causes and not by rape or homicide. They wanted to determine if the samples cited in the PNP report really belonged to the flight attendant.
“The Dacera family has decided to insist on a DNA examination of all these specimens mentioned by Dr. Palmero, of all organs allegedly examined to be inside the body of Christine,” Dacera family spokesman Brick Reyes said in a briefing.
“Nagexamine siya ng (Palmero examined) various specimens of alleged organs taken from the body of Christine daw (purportedly). The Dacera family never gave any consent for specimens to be taken. Never knew there were specimens taken so we do not know the specimens were really part of the organs of the late Christine,” Reyes added.
Medico-legal officer Joseph Palmero from the PNP Crime Laboratory Medico-legal office, in a report dated Jan. 11, ruled out homicide as the cause of Dacera’s death. Palmero said Dacera died due to “ruptured aortic aneurysm,” similar to the autopsy findings of Michael Nick Sarmiento, who was later relieved with three others for their alleged lapses in handling Dacera’s case. The report said he examined biopsy specimens from 18 organs, including brain, heart, lungs, and kidneys.
The results showed the late 23-year-old flight attendant’s heart weighed 500 grams, larger than the normal 300 grams, a finding that “supports Dacera’s apparently undiagnosed hypertension.”
But the Dacera family spokesman described the finding as “nonsense,” noting that they have a copy of a medical examination proving that the cabin crew’s “heart is normal.”
“Kalokohan iyong enlarged heart eh for a 23-year-old,” Reyes said.
[Translation: The finding that Christine had an enlarged heart is nonsense.]
He then reiterated their belief that Dacera was “subjected to some form of violence before she died,” noting the injuries on Dacera’s legs and arms, as well as her remains, will serve as “more than sufficient probable cause that rape could have occurred.”
Reyes also said they are securing a copy of CCTV footages from the City Garden GRAND Hotel in Poblacion, Makati City where the stewardess was found lifeless on Jan. 1 after a New Year’s Eve party with her friends and acquaintances. This is to determine possible liabilities of the establishment in the death of Dacera.
“Ang aming course of action ngayon (Our current course of action) is to get a copy of CCTV and determine exactly the liabilities of the hotel in this particular situation,” he said.
READ: TIMELINE: The Christine Dacera case
