In the investigations into cases of killings and suspicious deaths, skills and training are extremely essential in dealing with the investigation. Forensic examinations are carried out not only to establish the cause of the victim’s death but also, in the case of a murder, to collect sufficient evidence for effective prosecution in court. It is solely the responsibility of the police and their forensic specialists to conduct these investigations and no one else who has the lawful authority to handle them. However, the practice in some areas of the Philippines is different and sadly lacking professional credibility in that even the staff of private funeral parlors routinely respond to crimes scenes ahead of policemen, take pictures of the scene, collect evidence and handle dead bodies, often with the approval and orders of the police.
What has been the practice in some cases; for instance, in General Santos City, Mindanao, is that the funeral home staff informs the policemen of the recovery of corpses or victims of extrajudicial killings after they arrived at the crime scene ahead of the police. By arriving first they obtain from the police the right to provide the embalming service for the deceased. Though they are aware that they are not legally authorised to touch or moved anything at the scene, when police investigators arrive, those without cameras or equipment, or who are unable to bear the stench of decomposing corpses, instructs the funeral staff to do the job on their behalf.
The lack of public morgues there where post mortems and autopsies should be performed effectively allows funeral homes to keep the dead bodies in their morgues where the examination will be performed. In doing so, the responsibility of collecting and restoring evidence, particularly forensic specimens is left with the funeral staff. So, when the family of the victim requests an autopsy, particularly in the case of suspicious deaths, the funeral homes charge excessive fees that frequently discourage victim’s relatives, and this is particularly so with the poor. As they are unable to pay for the cost no autopsy is performed which means that the cause of death would never be known, or more importantly, proved. In the event that there are no claimants for unidentified bodies they are buried a few days later. This leads to the deceased being buried without an autopsy having been carried out to ascertain the cause of death; who might have killed them and most especially sad, the fact that their families will never know what has happened to them.
This practice has developed over time and as mentioned above the police are routinely passing on their responsibilities to the staff of funeral homes. However, the actions of the funeral home staff in keeping descriptions of unknown bodies, pictures and other information, has made them a virtually repository of information instead of the police. Unfortunately, their lack of official capacity in performing these duties seriously undermines the early stages of investigations and the possibility of effective prosecution. The absence of official authority affords them the means by which to avoid accountability for their actions. Furthermore, a staff of a funeral home cannot stand as an expert witness or as an investigator in a criminal trial.
The staff of funeral homes can in no way be a replacement for the policemen that should have been responsible for collecting evidence, conducting investigations, ensuring that evidence is collected and that records are kept properly. However, at no time does the full responsibility for conducting these investigations pass from the police. Funeral home staffs are only accountable to their employers and clients, however, the police are responsible to ensure that substantial progress is made into cases they are investigating, and this responsibility cannot be transferred.
Though the police have its existing unit of expert investigators, Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco), their skill and expertise is non-existent to police investigators in the field frequently responding to crime scenes. The heavy dependence of the Field investigators on Soco investigators and their lack of basic skills and training on appreciation of forensic evidence also undermine the early stage of investigation. The negligible number of Soco’s expert investigators frequently results in the police investigators, lacking skills and training, collecting and evaluating evidence on their own limited reasoning and judgment. It frequently happens that the Soco unit either cannot respond to calls or refuses to respond when crime scenes have already been contaminated.
The practice by the staff of the funeral homes of responding to crime scenes ahead of police has itself routinely increased possibility of contamination and effectively prevents the forensic experts from performing their work. The lack of progress of cases involving killings and suspicious deaths are a direct result of this practice and it is unacceptable that it has already obtained a certain level of approval by many policemen. By allowing this practice to continue, the damage to the evidence is of serious concern.
