The search for truth

On Sept. 27, 1995, Ensign Philip A. Pestaño, a 1993 graduate of the Philippine Military Academy was discovered dead aboard the BRP Bacolod City inside his stateroom. He had a single bullet gunshot wound to the right temple.

Since that time there have been a series of investigations carried out by several government agencies with private forensic/medical examiners being called in to help determine the cause of death. Conflicting opinions were expressed.

For a better appreciation of the case, let me provide excerpts from several of these reports as well as a study conducted on the same.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)

On 2 October 1995, Felipe Y. Pestaño, father of Philip, requested the NBI for investigative assistance on the death of his son.

The findings of SRA Ludovico T. Lara submitted to the Chief, Interpol Division, dated 24 November 1995 reads as follows:

Comments and Observations:

23. (number refers to the paragraph on the report) Evidence gathered so far indicates no foul play in the death of Ensign Philip A. Pestaño. The weight of the evidence gathered tends to support the theory of suicide.

Fortun Report

On 13 November 1995, Atty. Haydee Yorac addressed a letter to Dr. Raquel B. del Rosario-Fortun, forensic pathologist, General Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, UP College of Medicine. It reads as follows:

On behalf of our client Felipe Y. Pestaño, we would like to request your assistance in the evaluation of the autopsy examination and related forensic tests conducted by police authorities on our client’s late son, Philip Andrew Pestaño…. our client believes with your assistance the truth will be revealed and justice served.

On 5 December 1995, Dr. Raquel del Rosario-Fortun, forensic pathologist, submitted a summary and opinion on Ensign Pestaño’s death. Part of the report reads as follows:

The cause of death is consistent with perforating handgun wound to the head. Based on available information, there is no reason or cause to call the manner of death other than suicide.

PNP Criminal Investigation Group (CIG)/Criminal Investigation and Detective Office

Investigation Report Re: Mysterious Death of Ensign Philip A. Pestaño, PN. According to this report, on 24 February 1997, Mr. and Mrs. Pestaño made a personal appearance before the Office of the Director, CIG requesting assistance in the reinvestigation of their son’s death.

Matters Investigated:

6. (number refers to the paragraph on the report) To determine if indeed Ensign Philip A. Pestaño committed suicide or was deliberately killed aboard BRP Bacolod City on that fateful morning of 27 September 1995.

Conclusion:

177. The weight of the evidence overwhelmingly supports a conclusion and inspires a belief that Philip died from self-inflicted wounds while in the act of committing suicide on that fateful morning of 27 September 1995.

Recommendations:

178. Recommend that the investigation of this case be considered closed insofar as the CIG is concerned.

180. Copies of this investigation report should be furnished to the Philippine Navy, the Senate, and the House of Representatives for their information and appreciation.

Senate Committee Report

From 5 May-3 September 1997, the Committees on Justice and Human Rights and on National Defense and Security conducted 8 committee hearings, including an ocular inspection of the stateroom of Ensign Pestaño. The Committees submitted their report on 29 January 1998.

Conclusion:

1. (number refers to the paragraph of the report)  Pestaño did not kill himself aboard the BRP Bacolod City on 27 September 1995.

2. Pestaño was shot elsewhere in the vessel.

Recommendations:

4.  An independent reinvestigation be conducted on the circumstances surrounding the killing of Ensign Pestaño with the end in view of bringing the perpetrators to justice as well as to identify the persons who participated in the deliberate attempt to make it appear that Pestaño killed himself inside his stateroom.

Fortun-Tatsuno Study

In 1997-1998, Dr. Raquel Fortun and Dr. Yoshitsugu  Tatsuno, professor of Legal Medicine, Kobe University School of Medicine, completed a study of the Pestaño case entitled “Death Aboard Ship from a Single Gunshot Wound of the Head: Forensic Issues of the Pestaño Case.”  The study was made during the research fellowship of Dr. Fortun under the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Long Term Invitation Program.

Conclusion of the Study:

This is the case of a 23-year-old who was found dead inside his stateroom aboard ship. He sustained a single perforating gunshot wound to the right temple. Analysis of information known so far indicates that the manner of death is suicide based on scene investigation, physical evidences, witness accounts, and autopsy findings. The decedent left a suicide note. The preponderance of evidence does not support a theory of homicide.

In general, suicide determination is difficult to do on the part of the death investigator. Likewise it is often not easily acceptable to the decedent’s next of kin. Truthful recognition and reporting of suicide are however very important not only to maintain accurate public records but also in the interest of justice. Pursuing the theory of homicide without sound forensic proof could hurt innocent people.

* * *

There were other forensic expert reports submitted on the Pestaño case. One was by an American who viewed himself as a “firearms/self-defense consultant aside from being a forensic examiner.”

Forensic pathology is a branch of pathology concerned with determining the cause of death by examination of a corpse usually during the investigation of a criminal case. Doctor Fortun is the first Filipino woman to become a forensic pathologist. She is known as the “Mother of Forensic Pathology” in the Philippines. She was a Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awardee in 2002 for Forensic Pathology and one of The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) awardee in 2004. Although she was subpoenaed by the Senate during the Pestaño hearings, her expert testimony is nowhere to be found in the Senate report.

The death of Ensign Pestaño remains a mystery. Some say it was murder; some, suicide. If it were murder, who pulled the trigger? If it were suicide, then there are no murderers.

The death of any human being is always a tragedy. It is also a tragedy when in the search for the truth, a possible miscarriage of justice results in promising careers being cut short and innocent lives destroyed.