RP experts question S'pore maid findings

RP experts question S'pore maid findings

MANILA (Reuter): A Philippine forensic expert yesterday stood
by his findings on the death of a Filipina maid in Singapore,
saying an autopsy conducted there in 1991 was incomplete.

Dr. Maximo Reyes, who conducted an autopsy on the exhumed
remains of murder victim Delia Maga last week, told an official
inquiry he was sticking by his findings that the maid was
severely beaten before she was strangled.

The forensic scientist from the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) was again summoned by the inquiry to answer
comments from the Singapore doctors who did the autopsy on Maga
shortly after her death in May, 1991.

Another Filipina maid, Flor Contemplacion, confessed to
killing Maga and a three-year-old Singaporean boy four years ago.

Contemplacion, a 42-year-old mother of four, was hanged in
Singapore on March 17. Her execution outraged many Filipinos who
believe she was a victim of a frame-up.

This prompted President Fidel Ramos to order an inquiry to
determine if Contemplacion was a victim of injustice.

On Saturday, Ramos said he wanted a third-party judgment on
the conflicting reports of the NBI and that of Singapore on
Maga's death.

Singapore's Institute of Science and Forensic Medicine said
Maga could not have died by any cause other than asphyxiation
caused by strangulation.

Singaporean experts said injuries cited by Filipino forensic
scientists might be due to a normal reaction in a decomposing
body.

Reyes suggested in his testimony on Thursday that Maga was
severely beaten, as shown in the head injuries and four fractured
ribs she suffered, before her killer strangled her with an
elastic cord.

He expressed surprise that a Singaporean police autopsy report
did not mention any of the chest and head injuries he said he
found on Maga's remains.

"We do not dispute their findings that Delia Maga died of
asphyxia by strangulation," Reyes said yesterday. "But we stand
by our contention that the injuries were ante-mortem or inflicted
before her death."

Human-rights lawyer Romeo Capulong questioned Ramos's decision
to seek a third-party opinion on Maga's death, saying the NBI
findings were reliable and conclusive.

"The NBI has broad experience and is credible. Why do we
disregard that and get a third opinion?" said Capulong, the
Contemplacion family's counsel.

Contemplacion's only daughter, Russel, appeared before the
inquiry despite earlier refusals, and said her mother had told
her and her brothers she was innocent of the crimes.

The children flew to Singapore shortly before Contemplacion
was hanged and spent time with her in Changi Prison.