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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Philippine police under microscope after rape-slay case of flight attendant falls a

    The botched investigation into the death of a Filipino flight attendant during a New Year's Eve party has sparked accusations of police incompetence in a case that has gripped public attention, fuelling outrage against a force that has become notorious under the government of President Rodrigo Duterte for summarily arresting and in some cases shooting to death people who have been implicated in crimes without being properly investigated.


    The Makati City police in Metro Manila investigating the case at first announced that the victim, Christine Dacera, 23, had been drugged, raped and murdered by her companions as they partied overnight at the City Garden Hotel, violating Covid-19 quarantine restrictions.


    The crime was considered so heinous that Manny Pacquiao, the former world champion boxer who is now a Philippine senator, offered a reward of 500,000 Philippine pesos (US$10,400) to anyone who caught the suspects. A congressman, Eric Yap, chipped in with his own bounty of 100,000 pesos.

    Dacera, who had been celebrating with at least 12 men was brought to a hospital on New Year's Day by three of her friends, who said they had found her lying unconscious in a hotel bathtub. She was later pronounced dead.


    On January 4, the Philippine National Police issued a statement announcing that they had solved what they termed a "rape-slay" and had arrested three of the 12 men.


    The following day, Philippine National Police director general Debold Sinas summoned the remaining nine men, who he termed "suspects", to "surrender within 72 hours or we will hunt you down using force if necessary".


    "We know who you are", he warned the men. "Your families must turn you over to the police. Those found to be abetting your escape will also be arrested."


    Sinas made the crude threat despite the lack of an arrest warrant and without awaiting the results of a formal investigation.

    But it turned out that the police had no evidence of any crime. Results of the autopsy conducted on January 2 showed that Dacera had probably died of an aortic aneurysm - a massive internal rupture of the heart that may have been caused by high blood pressure. The finding was conditional, however, because the autopsy was performed on a body that had already been embalmed, was presumably washed, and had the organs and bodily fluids removed and embalming fluid injected.


    The same day, the Makati prosecutor's office ordered the three detained men to be released because of lack of evidence, subject to further investigation. The men told the media after their release that they had gone to the police on their own to give statements about what had happened at the New Year's Eve party when they were suddenly arrested.


    One of the accused also told reporters that he and all the men who were with Dacera that night were gay and could not have raped her, to which Makati Police Chief Harold Depositar, reacting to a reporter who relayed this information to him, replied, "They're still men; they have instincts especially if under the influence of intoxicating alcohol, and in the presence of drugs all the more."


    Ricardo Diaz, a retired National Capital Region director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), told This Week in Asia that the sloppiness of the police work was disturbing because it showed that the police under Sinas had no regard for proper investigative techniques and no respect for human rights.


    Diaz said police aren't supposed to use the word "suspects" - as Sinas had in the case - lightly.


    "We call them 'subjects' because if you call them 'suspects' it presupposes that you have evidence," he said, calling Sinas' warnings to the 12 men and their families "worrisome at the least and frightening at the most for our country".


    "It can be presumed from the way (Sinas) made pronouncements in the Dacera case that he will do the same in other cases - like calling persons under investigation to surrender and giving them ultimatums, like announcing beforehand that Dacera was a victim of rape and homicide without waiting for the result of the investigation," Diaz said.


    In a television interview with ANC News, Raquel Fortun, the chairwoman of the department of pathology of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and one of the country's top forensic experts, said the autopsy report was "incomplete".


    The case was poorly investigated, which unfortunately is typical in the Philippines
    Raquel Fortun, University of Philippines College of Medicine
    Police revealed they had autopsied the body only after it was embalmed and had not conducted any toxicology tests to look for drugs.


    "The case was poorly investigated, which unfortunately is typical in the Philippines," Fortun told This Week in Asia. "We really do not have a death investigation system in place."


    The premature "rape-slay" statement by the Philippine National Police made national headlines and caused an uproar on social media. As new facts in the case emerged, those who had rushed to condemn the supposed suspects had to backtrack and apologise. Among them was the popular singer Frankie Pangilinan, who wrote on Twitter: "I should have waited knowing how the authorities function nowadays. It's sick and sad. I'm really really sorry.


    "I got caught up in the outrage, I promise I'll do better. I've deleted all of the misleading tweets," she said.

    Investigators revealed that Dacera had booked the room for herself and four friends, and that at least eight other men had taken an adjoining room and joined the party. The tourism department said it was investigating the hotel for violations of quarantine restrictions.


    Despite the revelations, Dacera's mother maintains her daughter was raped, or at least drugged.


    In a statement, Sinas said the PNP was still investigating the case.


    On Monday, the National Bureau of Investigation said that "80 per cent" of evidence found by its forensics team at the hotel showed "encouraging leads" to a possible crime. A second autopsy is also being conducted.

    Sinas - who himself was caught flagrantly violating quarantine restrictions last year while celebrating his birthday - has also ordered an inquiry into how his officers had investigated the case.


    Diaz, the former NBI director, warned of the implications of sloppy police work in such cases, pointing out how the same carelessness and disregard for human rights characterises police handling of cases carried out under the Duterte government's campaign against alleged communist rebels. Critics have noted how the government "red tags" critics - claiming they are communist - and these people end up being summarily arrested or shot.


    But, Diaz said "it is much worse in cases of red-tagged people" because in such cases "it isn't clear if there is an ongoing investigation for any particular crime".


    Philippine police under microscope after ‘rape-slay’ case of flight attendant falls apart

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Terrible shame.

    Philippine police under microscope after rape-slay case of flight attendant falls a-christinedacera-jpg

    I wouldn't be surprised if payments were made.

    No-one even did a tox screen.

    Christine Dacera 'initiated' caught-on-video kiss before death: report

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  4. #4
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    But it turned out that the police had no evidence of any crime. Results of the autopsy conducted on January 2 showed that Dacera had probably died of an aortic aneurysm - a massive internal rupture of the heart that may have been caused by high blood pressure. The finding was conditional, however, because the autopsy was performed on a body that had already been embalmed, was presumably washed, and had the organs and bodily fluids removed and embalming fluid injected.
    Staggering.

  5. #5
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    ^lots of articles about her in the local news. She was very pretty, and according to friends / sources, was a bit of a wild girl & party animal.

    She & three or four gay male friends rented a room in a hotel for a NYE party. Then apparently, one of her friends was friendly with a group in the neighboring room. From the CCTV footage, it seems like she was going from one room to the other. She mentioned to one of her friends later that night that she thought her drink may have been spiked. She was found dead in the bathtub on NY morning.

    It's not known if she was sexually assaulted, since they didn't autopsy the body prior to embalming.

    There's also speculation that she & the group were taking drugs with the alcohol, and the combination may have caused her aneurysm.

    She was from Mindanao but now lives in Manila due to her job as a flight attendant. That's why she wasn't with family for NYE, only with friends.

    Very unfortunate circumstances.

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    She was from Mindanao but now lives in Manila due to her job as a flight attendant
    Did live.


    could have been drugs, accident, spiked, raped or just plain bad luck and timing.


    No way to know anymore since they embalmed her body prior to an autopsy. Twats.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    I seen this on twitter weeks ago. And I seen the suspects and yes. They all looked like homosexuals.

    Seems all the other women declined the invite. , The girl to guy ratio was rather wide at the party. Not exactly an ideal situation safety wise

    Some sources say there was injuries and semen. Others say not. So what is it ?

    From the mirror article

    Christine had been partying with at least 12 men, most of which were identified by police as gay men, starting December 31 evening until she was found unconscious in the morning.

    Makati police chief Colonel Harold Depositar said the 23-year-old had injuries on her arms and legs with traces of sperm on her genitalia, which police claim was rape and homicide
    Last edited by Backspin; 14-01-2021 at 11:58 AM.

  8. #8
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    Two men involved in Christine's case recant, said their testimony was forced by police.

    2 Dacera pals recant: Drug use issue forced by Makati police | Inquirer News

    Take note that there were 2 groups partying that night, in adjacent hotel rooms. Christine knew the guys she was partying with in her room - they were her gay friends. I've heard some of their interviews on local media & they indeed sound gay.

    Apparently, one or two of her friends knew some of the people in the other room, but Christine didn't really know them. They were "friends of friends". Some of the guys' testimonies said that they just met the ppl from the other room during that night.

    There's one guy, Mark Anthony Rosales, who is being implicated as the source of the drugs that night, and who Christine thought might have spiked her drink (according to the inquirer article).

    In the CCTV footage of the hotel corridors, Christine was seen as initiating a kiss with a guy. In another clip, Christine (semi conscious?) is carried from one room to the other. Clips are on YT, search Christine Dacera CCTV.

    Again, very unfortunate circumstances.

    Edit: here's the CCTV footage, with narration in Tagalog (but you'll recognize the timestamps). Lalaki = man

    Last edited by katie23; 14-01-2021 at 01:17 PM.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    Lalaki = man
    Indonesians say Laki Laki

  10. #10
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    panama hat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Indonesians say Laki Laki
    Malaysians say Lelaki

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Malaysians say Lelaki
    Everybody say Hey Yo

  12. #12
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    ^^ & ^^^ Yes, terima kasih. Indonesian, Malaysian & PI languages all belong to the same language family (Austronesian)

    In this other video, they interviewed the 4 (gay) friends of Christine who were with her in the room.

    Summary: Chrustine was close to only those 3 or 4 men. There were 11 people total in room 2209 (their room). Around 2330H, they went to the other room (2207) to party with the other folks there. Christine's group returned to their room shortly after. She went back & forth to 2207, sometimes accompanied by a guy.

    The 2nd to last sighting of Christine was around 0600, when she was carried back to the room by one of the guys. According to them, she was already drunk. Prior to that, they said that the guys in the other room had informed them to say that she puked in their toilet. So one of her friends came to fetch her (and carried her).

    Upon arrival in their room (past 6 am), she went to the toilet & just puked. Then around 10 am, one of the guys saw her in the bathtub, still breathing but appeared to be sleeping. He got a blanket & covered her with it.

    Around 1200H, they checked up on her (and presumably they needed to check out, and one of them had to leave because of needing to work soon). She wasn't breathing & was unresponsive. They said her lips were purplish but she was still warm.

    They called the hotel management, and someone went up to check. While waiting for the hotel ppl, they performed CPR on her. The hotel guy left their room to get reinforcements. Next is the hotel staff returned with a wheelchair. They wheeled her out of the room (last sighting of her) & into the elevator, where they examined her in the hotel's clinic. She was later transferred to a hospital, where she was declared DOA.

    I don't know if there was any foul play or just a case of alcohol & /or drug poisoning. If anything untoward happened, it may have been in the other room (2207), not with the guys she was originally with (IMO).

    RIP Christine.

    Last edited by katie23; 16-01-2021 at 08:14 AM. Reason: Added video

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    I don't know if there was any foul play or just a case of alcohol & /or drug poisoning. If anything untoward happened, it may have been in the other room (2207), not with the guys she was originally with (IMO)
    And the authorities have effectively destroyed any chance of finding out.

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat Fondles's Avatar
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    no evidence... the police did the right thing releasing the 3 charged.

  15. #15
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    I watched the vid of the friends' interview again, as I wasn't able to translate everything in the former post.

    The last sighting of Christine (alive) was around 0630H, when she was carried to their room. The guys were pretty sure that Christine wasn't raped.

    The reporter asked, "How sure are you that she wasn't raped, since she was in the other room?" (and no one from their group was with her)

    They said that when Christine got back to their room at 0630, she was still conscious & she would have told them if she was raped. Instead she said, "Guys, nasusuka ako" (I feel like barfing). So they left her in the toilet to barf.

    Around 10 am, another guy checked up on her. She was in the bathtub & seemed to have difficulty breathing. Her hands were on her tummy. Her eyes were closed. He asked if she was OK, and she made a flicking movement with her hand, which he interpreted as "go away". So he went away but before that, he covered her with a blanket.

    Around noon, the guy who covered her with the blanket checked up on her again to wake her up because he needed to leave & go to work. That's when he found her unresponsive. He woke the others up, then they called for hotel assistance. They (the guy friends) transferred Christine from bathtub to the bedroom area & performed CPR on her. The hotel people came & she was wheeled out of the room around 1230H.

    IMO seems no foul play from the four guys in the vid. The police are also investigating the guys from the other room (2207). For now, they remain as persons of interest.

    The guys are educated and middle class (or rich) people, who have their own lawyers. One of the four men is the son of a former popular singer who is now the owner of a big bus company in Manila. So these guys can't be easily intimidated.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 27) — The Makati City prosecutor's office has dismissed for "lack of probable cause" the rape with homicide complaint against 11 respondents tagged in the death of flight attendant Christine Dacera early this year.
    In a resolution obtained by CNN Philippines on Tuesday, Assistant Prosecutor Joan Santillan said the evidence presented is "insufficient to engender a well-founded belief that rape, homicide, or rape with homicide has been committed."
    In the clear were John Pascual dela Serna III, Rommel Galido, John Paul Halili, Gregorio Angelo Rafael de Guzman, Jezreel Rapinan (a.k.a. Clark Rapinan), Alain Chen (a.k.a. Valentine Rosales), Mark Anthony Rosales, Reymar Englis, Louie Delima, Jamyr Cunanan and Eduard Pangilinan III.
    Separate complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation are still under preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice.
    Dacera was found lifeless on Jan. 1 after a New Year's Eve party with friends and acquaintances.
    NBI earlier said Dacera died of “ruptured aortic aneurysm,” similar to the findings of the Philippine National Police.



    Rape with homicide complaint vs. respondents in Dacera case dismissed

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