THE investigation on the killing of radio commentator and newspaper columnist Percy Lapid, whose real name is Percival Mabasa, took a new twist when the Department of Justice, under Secretary Boying Remulla, acceded to the request of the Mabasa family for a second and independent autopsy of the body of Jun Villamor, the alleged middleman or broker in the supposed contract-killing of the broadcaster.
The findings of forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun who conducted the independent autopsy contradicted those of the initial findings of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which said Villamor’s body showed no signs of physical external injuries, possibly indicating he died of natural causes.
‘The Percy Lapid murder has opened up a can of worms, exposing problems and deficiencies in our prisons, police, and justice institutions that badly need attention.’
Dr. Fortun reported in a press conference with Secretary Remulla, that Villamor’s remains were found to have a “history of asphyxia by plastic bag suffocation.” She also confirmed that the body was found to have “pulmonary congestion, edema, and hemorrhages.”
Fortun said the autopsy findings showed “no gross morphologic cause of death,” which is “consistent with the reported asphyxia.”
The forensic expert added that there is information that the deceased expressed fear for his life shortly before his death and that he died from suffocation by means of a plastic bag over his head. Dr. Fortun said that “based on available information regarding the circumstances surrounding death, the manner is homicide.”
This latest sinister turn in the Percy Lapid case adds another death in the already murky investigation, and so that authorities have more work to do because instead of one murder, they are now handling two.
This has become a case of people dying just before the Nov. 1-2 observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day and so one would say, in Tagalog street parlance, that these deaths were “humabol sa Undas” (dying before the Day of the Dead).
The second autopsy also begs the question on why the NBI failed to do a credible autopsy on Villamor’s body, even as it provides proof that the Philippines is grossly deficient in the field of forensics. It was reported that aside from Dr. Raquel Fortun, we have two or three more scientists who possess the expertise to do the work. Should not our universities and the Commission on Higher Education take the lead in training medical students along these lines?
The Percy Lapid murder has opened up a can of worms, exposing problems and deficiencies in our prisons, police, and justice institutions that badly need attention.
