Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla yesterday disclosed the arrival of forensic expert and United Nations Special Rapporteur Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz which will pave the way for the launch of a program to improve the capacity of government doctors and authorities on forensic pathology in the country.
“We invited Dr. Tidball-Binz to come over, to help us build capacity so that we will have a program for the doctors of the government, the police, the (National Bureau of Investigation), probably the military doctors to have special courses in forensic pathology,” Remulla said in an an ambush interview.
The justice chief said the visit of Tidball-Binz is to build the government’s capacity to handle situations like untimely deaths.
As the program is under the UN Joint Programme, Remulla said the Philippines is asking the international organization to fund it to ensure its continuity.
Remulla and Tidball-Binz met Tuesday morning to discuss the capacity building program.
“We expect him to come back maybe in May to August for the program itself of capacity building,” Remulla said.
The UN Rapporteur is also set to talk to civil society organizations in the country.
The two on 13 November 2022, met in Geneva where Remulla attended the Universal Peer Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Remulla invited the UN Special Rapporteur and asked the latter’s help “in assisting the law enforcement agencies in the Philippines to investigate cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances” in the Philippines.
“He has provided closure for families of victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. We are hoping for the same when he visits the Philippines,” he said.
The forensic expert’s visit, which will be until 9 February, has nothing to do with the International Criminal Court reopening its investigation into the Duterte administration’s drug war and the alleged Davao Death Squad killings, Remulla added.