THE Department of Justice (DOJ) and a United Nations forensic expert will hold a capacity building program for government doctors and law enforcement investigators to boost the country’s capability in handling and probing cases of untimely or “wrongful deaths.”
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla made the announcement after his meeting with UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz, who arrived yesterday for a three-day visit.
The meeting was also attended by officials of the United Nations Development Program.
In a press briefing after the meeting, Remulla said he invited Tidball-Binz to come to the Philippines “to help us build capacity so that we will have a program for the doctors of the government, the police, the National Bureau of Investigation, and probably even the military doctors to have special courses in forensic pathology.”
“This is very important for government doctors, for the PNP, NBI and even the military,” Remulla said, adding that state prosecutors will also participate in the program.
“We want to ensure that our system is up to date, that’s why we are doing this capacity building,” he said.
Remulla said the government will tap the UN Joint Programme to help fund the program.
“We expect him (Tidball-Binz) to come back maybe in May to August for the program itself of capacity building,” he said.
Asked if he discussed the issue of extrajudicial killings with the UN rapporteur, Remulla said they only talked about the investigation being done by the DOJ on the matter.
“We discussed the investigation we are conducting. We shared the many cases that we are looking here,” the DOJ chief said, adding that the focus of their discussion was on the program to capacitate government doctors and authorities on forensic pathology.
Remulla had earlier said Tidball-Binz can help Filipino authorities in their investigation of wrongful deaths and “pave the way for forensic pathologists and enhance their practice to achieve international standard practices.”
“Dr. Tidball-Binz visit will help us identify the intricacies of wrongful death tragedies,” he said even as he clarified that the UN rapporteur was visiting “in his capacity as an expert in the field of forensic pathology” and not as part of the team of investigators looking into the alleged extrajudicial killings committed by the police related to the drug war of the Duterte administration.
“I invited Dr. Tidball-Binz because his works speak for itself. His missions and projects have had an immeasurable impact on the countries he has helped. He has provided closure for families of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. We are hoping for the same when he visits the Philippines,” Remulla had said.
Tidball-Binz will also meet with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Moro Virgilio-Lazo and National Bureau of Investigation Director Medardo de Lemos, as well as members of civil society organizations.
