'Urine' sample from Dacera's body leads to more questions —Dr. Fortun

A forensic pathologist raised many questions on the report that the National Bureau of Investigation successfully extracted urine sample from the remains of flight attendant Christine Dacera.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB on Wednesday, Dr. Raquel Fortun said the procedure of how the sample was extracted should be documented.

“Maraming tanong dyan. Totoo ba 'yan? Anong nakuha nila? How much? How labeled? Kung ebidensya 'to, at saka may chain of custody mo, so dapat walang question na hindi 'yan yung nanggaling sa kanya. Baka napalitan, baka na-contaminate. Maraming issue dyan,” she added.

According to Fortun, she would be surprised if the NBI really managed to extract a urine sample from Dacera considering that the police earlier reported that her bladder was empty.

“I would be, actually, surprised kung meron nga,” she said.

“Bakit ni-report noong unang doktor na walang laman (ang bladder) and yet 'yung second one, sabi meron…And that's why ini-insist ko, labanan 'yan ng documentation. Sino sa inyo ang nagsasabi ng totoo? Sino ang nambobola? Malaking bagay 'yan,” she added.

Fortun also noted that it could be just embalming fluid and not urine that was extracted from Dacera’s bladder.

“Ang sabi doon sa first report sa Philippine National Police, talagang nakasulat doon, the bladder is empty. So ibig sabihin, walang ihi,” she said.

“Kaya noong narinig ko na meron daw nakuhang bodily fluid ang NBI doon sa second autopsy several days after. Ang tanong ko is paanong…hindi siguro bladder 'yan baka embalming fluid lang 'yan sa mga body cavity. Tapos lumabas 'yung istorya na, hindi, sa ano raw talaga ito, sa bladder,” she added.

Due to this, Fortun also suggested a check on the embalming procedures as well as on the first autopsy that were done with Dacera’s body to better evaluate the extracted fluid.

On Monday, the NBI said at least 100 milliliters of bodily fluids were discovered during the second autopsy on Dacera’s remains, performed in General Santos City over the weekend.

Samples of fluids and organs from Dacera will undergo DNA analysis.

“We have very interesting leads. We have very encouraging results. Kaya malaman kung [may] presence of alcohol, level of alcohol maybe, presence of illegal drugs,” NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said.

“May crime. Let’s leave it at that. May crime dito,” he added.

Dacera was found lifeless in a bathtub on January 1, a day after she checked into the hotel for a New Year’s Eve celebration. —GMA News