S'pore gives maid's autopsy report to RP

S'pore gives maid's autopsy report to RP

MANILA (AFP): Singapore has given the Philippines the results
of an autopsy on a Filipina maid who fell to her death from a
high-rise apartment, Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said
yesterday.

The Dec. 7 death of Angelina Palaming, 28, initially ruled as
a suicide, has cast a new cloud on the normalization of relations
between the two countries, strained by the hanging in Singapore
in March of another maid, Flor Contemplacion.

Siazon said the report was given to the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI). President Fidel Ramos ordered a probe into
Palaming's death.

"As of this moment, the department is not in a position to
state categorically what the cause of Ms. Palaming's death was,"
Siazon said in a statement, which added that the Singapore
authorities had given "complete cooperation."

He later told reporters that "according to the autopsy
conclusions, there was no trace of a struggle, there was no trace
of sexual assault, and no toxic materials were found."

Palaming, who was found dead after she and her four-year-old
ward fell from a ninth-story apartment. The child survived the
fall.

Six days before her death, Palaming had gone to the Philippine
mission to renew her passport. She informed the authorities that
she planned to go home for the Chinese new year holidays in
February, Siazon said.

The NBI cast doubt on the cause of death of Delia Maga, a
Filipina maid allegedly killed by Contemplacion, whose death
sentence for the murder of Maga and a four year old boy sparked
protests in the Philippines.

Many people in the Philippines believed she was innocent,
prompting Ramos to downgrade ties with Singapore.

The two countries have moved to put the controversy behind
them and repair ties, with Ramos and Singapore Prime Minister Goh
Chok Tong deciding recently to exchange ambassadors in two
months.

But earlier yesterday, a militant labor organization urged the
government to postpone the normalization of diplomatic ties,
until the cause of Palaming's death was established.

But the Manila-based Migrante International said the new death
"should first be investigated thoroughly" before the two
countries resume full diplomatic relations.

It cited "conflicting reports" over the cause of death of
Palaming, who was found dead after she and her four-year-old ward
fell from a ninth-story apartment. The child survived the fall.