MANILA, Philippines – Five female victims of the mass killings in Maguindanao, including a local journalist, showed signs that they were “sexually abused,” according to the findings of the police crime laboratory that was revealed on Thursday.
They were tested positive for the presence of semen during the acid phosphatase test conducted by the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, said Superintendent Ruby Grace Sabino-Diangson, chief of the medico legal division.
The five were identified as Cecille Lechonsito, Rahima Palawan, Meriam Calimbol, Mercy Palabrica, and local journalist Leah Dalmacio of Socsargen News.
Of these five, only Lechonsito showed positive signs of bruises around the genital area, which meant there was sexual penetration “ante mortem,” or before death.
The other four also tested positive for the presence of semen, although no bruising could be detected as their bodies were found in a decomposing state.
“Of the victims autopsied, particularly Mrs. Cecille Lechonsito, we found a bruising on the vestibular region, meaning there is injury of the genitalia. And on the conduct of the acid phosphatase test, it turned out that it gave a positive result so there is presumptive evidence there was penetration during that time,” Diangson told a press conference.
She added that initial findings also revealed that Lechonsito was discovered on the crime scene with “her pants pulled down so there is a possibility that sexual abuse may have happened.”
Apart from that, Lechonsito was also shot on the mouth and at close range, making police surmise that Lechonsito could have been mistaken for Genalyn, the wife or relative of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu.
“That was our presumption when we were doing the autopsy examination…the likelihood na napagkamalan siya [that she was mistaken] as one of the relatives of the vice mayor,” said Chief Inspector Dean Cabrera, medico legal officer.
But police also clarified that these findings were inconclusive at this time.
“It is presumptive evidence because two of the female victims are married and it is possible that she stayed with her husband before the incident,” said Chief Superintendent Arturo Cacdac, chief of the PNP’s Crime Laboratory.
Diangson said medico legal officers would now proceed with obtaining DNA samples from the husbands of these female victims to confirm if rape occurred.
Nevertheless, Diangson said these findings were included in the complaint referral submitted by the PNP to the investigating panel of the Department of Justice, indicting several members of the Ampatuan clan, including patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., for multiple murder.
The PNP Crime Laboratory conducted autopsies on 37 bodies, including six females. All the other victims, including members of the Mangudadatu family, were with the National Bureau of Investigation, Cacdac clarified.
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