Third-party autopsy of maid confirmed

Third-party autopsy of maid confirmed

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines and Singapore yesterday issued a joint statement saying both countries would abide by the results of a third-party autopsy on a murdered Filipina maid whose death was central to a diplomatic squabble between the two.

The joint statement said that if the third-party autopsy upheld the findings of Philippine forensic experts that the maid, Delia Maga, had not been murdered by another Filipina maid, Flor Contemplacion, then they would reopen Contemplacion's case.

Contemplacion was hanged in Singapore in March for the 1991 murder of Maga and Maga's four-year-old Singaporean charge.

However many Filipinos charge that she was framed, resulting in a public outcry that forced Manila to downgrade relations with Singapore.

However, the statement added, if the third party upholds Singaporean pathologists' earlier findings that Contemplacion killed Maga, "the Philippines will abide by such a decision."

Earlier this month, government pathologists told a special commission looking into Contemplacion's case, that Maga was murdered by a man. This led to the commission's findings that Contemplacion was innocent.

The Singaporeans rejected the findings and after a joint necropsy in Manila on April 19, both groups continued to stick to their findings.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Roberto Romulo and his Singaporean counterpart, S. Jayakumar have been meeting at the directions of Philippine President Fidel Ramos and Singaporean Premier Goh Chok Tong to work out the details of the third-party autopsy.

However, the statement did not say who would conduct the third-party autopsy or when it would take place.

Ramos previously said that if it was proved that Singapore's autopsy was more accurate, the Philippines would normalize relations with Singapore.