Forensic DNA profiling and databasing: The Philippine experience

• Main Author: De Ungria, Maria Corazon A.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: DNA fingerprinting—Philippines; DNA fingerprinting—Law and legislation—Philippines; DNA data banks—Philippines; DNA data banks—Law and legislation—Philippines; Medical Jurisprudence
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/5170
• Institution: De La Salle University

The Philippines, an archipelagic country of over 92 million people (USAID 2008), is a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Unlike Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, the Philippines does not yet have a national DNA database or any legislation that would facilitate its establishment. The Philippine Supreme Court has recognised the admissibility of DNA evidence in court and has provided judicial guidelines for the collection, handling and storage of biological samples in the Rule on DNA Evidence, which it promulgated in 2007 (Supreme Court of the Philippines 2007). Forensic DNA testing in criminal investigations is performed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), an agency under the Department of Justice, and the Philippine National Police (PNP), an agency under the Department of Interior and Local Government. A third DNA laboratory, which is based at the University of the Philippines (UP), not only performs forensic DNA testing in both criminal and civil cases but also validates DNA testing procedures and conducts research on the genetics of the Philippine population. The three DNA laboratories operate independently and are under the control and supervision of the institutions to which they are attached. This chapter provides a historical overview of the development of forensic DNA technology and its use in Philippine courts, as well as a discussion on legislative issues in the establishment of a national DNA database.