"Christine Dacera did not deserve what happened to her."
There seems to be two conflicting Philippine National Police appreciation of the Christine Dacera case. General Debold Sinas was reported by the media as being thoroughly convinced that there was foul play in the death of the flight stewardess. The National Capital Region Police on the other hand, is not very convinced. To compound it all, the remains of Dacera were embalmed first and then autopsied later because of health protocols brought about by the pandemic according to the NCRPO.
This is shocking. What kind of forensic pathologists do the Police have? A competent pathologist would normally not embalm the remains and then conduct an autopsy. The autopsy is always done first, pandemic or no pandemic. Also, the remains were embalmed without at least informing the Dacera family. The Dacera family is now suing him for gross incompetence. It makes me wonder why he is even in his job or where he got his forensic training. This incompetence is one reason why many Police cases are being dismissed.
The forensic pathology report was also apparently poorly done and contained only two or three pages. It stated that the cause of death was natural due to raptured aortic aneurysm which many forensic pathologists are questioning – and for good reason. There were also many things not mentioned in the forensic report like the bruises, abrasions and contusions. The result is that there are now more questions than answers.
The Makati Police Office also apparently hurriedly filed rape and homicide charges against some individuals who are all apparently gay. The City prosecutor’s office immediately returned the case folder for improvement. We do not know how much investigative work was put into the case. Perhaps the Makati Police was thinking that it was an open and shut case, but it is turning out to be a lot more complicated. With the benefit of hindsight, they should have looked at the case more thoroughly and gathered more evidence before referring it to the prosecutor’s office. Perhaps they did not realize that the case will attract so much public interest and attention which also shows the depth of their appreciation of the case.
Authorities should have figured out that the suspicious death of a very young and attractive flight stewardess under mysterious circumstances has the potential of becoming a celebrity case which it did. Now, Police incompetence has been brought out to the public for everyone to see. This is not one of the proudest moments for the Police and people like me who once served in the Police.
Now, the case is back to square one. The National Bureau of Investigation has stepped in and has started a parallel investigation. A question that many are asking is, was Christine raped before being killed? That is what the public wants to know as it follows the developments of the case. The embalming really did much damage in the search for primary evidence like the search for semen as one proof of rape. Hopefully however, there will still be other ways to find out by interviewing all those who were billeted in the same hotel floor. We have CCTV footages and statements coming from about eleven LGBT friends who partied with Dacera that New Year’s Eve at the City Garden Hotel in Makati.
I understand that the NBI is looking for more people and in fact have identified and invited some persons of interest for questioning. This indicates that there were probably other guests staying in other rooms apart from the two hotel rooms mentioned who might have joined the party or seen Chtristine. This investigation is developing into a case worthy of an Agatha Christie crime mystery. Another question that is being ask is, why were there no other women in the party? To me, this hardly matters. If investigations will later confirm that she was indeed raped and then murdered, those who committed the crime must be charged and if found guilty sent to jail. Being the lone girl in a party is not a crime. Rape and murder are.
The NBI were allowed by the Dacera family to extract some tissue samples from the remains of Christine before the burial and are confident that the tissue samples extracted are sufficient to bolster their case that a crime was indeed committed. Perhaps it is not yet too late for the NBI and PNP to consider joining forces in order to get to the bottom of the case faster. The Police might be holding some items of evidence that might help make the case a lot stronger. Christine died when she was just starting a life. She did not deserve that. Let us hope that the investigation will give her the kind of justice that she deserves.
