📷: Atty. Kristina Conti
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) appears rattled by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun’s preliminary autopsy findings on the April 19 Negros incident, where 19 individuals were killed in what the military insists was a “long-drawn encounter” with alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Lawyer Kristina Conti, in a Facebook post, noted that Fortun’s report casts serious doubt on the military’s narrative, stressing that her findings are a call for a fair, independent, and credible investigation, not a conclusion.
Fortun, known for her expertise in examining the dead, underscored the need for crime scene reconstruction, ballistics testing, and proper study of object evidence.
Yet glaring lapses have already surfaced: paraffin tests conducted on hands exposed to water, mislabeled bodies, and the bizarre blaming of grieving families for identification errors.
“Why take paraffin tests on hands exposed to water? Why was the wrong body labeled as someone else? Why, bizarrely, blame the grieving family for the mix-up?” Conti asked, citing jurisprudence that paraffin tests alone cannot prove gunfire involvement (People v. Teehankee, 1995).
Questions also swirl around the military’s decision to send a “fact-finding” team composed of alleged former rebels now serving as military assets. Critics argue this undermines credibility, given the military’s poor track record in handling evidence and the Philippine National Police (PNP) tarnished reputation in extrajudicial killing (EJK) cases.
The military, led by Gen. Romeo Brawner, was quick to declare on April 23 that “19 members of the armed group were neutralized,” later doubling down on April 27 that all fatalities were NPA fighters. Propaganda showcasing seized weapons and photos of the crime scene followed — even before official reports were released.
“It must be reminded that it was the military and the NTF-ELCAC who first came forward with conclusions. Not “we are investigating an encounter with rebels”. But, “we stand by the claim that all of these 19 who were killed in the operations are members of the NPA” (Brawner speaking to media on April 27, 2026),” Conti stated.
Fortun’s intervention has shifted the narrative: the only facts so far have come from the side that carried out the killings. Her work, Conti stressed, is about letting the dead “tell their tales.”
“The military and the NTF-ELCAC shouldn’t be afraid of the truth. Or should they?” Conti concluded.# (ZIA LUNA)
