Most if not all of the women’s pants were unzipped, but this wasn’t the case among the males victimized in the massacre, observes police Chief. Supt. Felicisimo Khu Jr., the head of a group of authorities that investigated the November 23 crime scene in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. “It therefore gives you the impression that the women were raped," says Khu, deputy director general for administration of the Philippine National Police in Region 12. But vaginal smear tests conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation yielded negative results. Not one of the 15 women examined had traces of human sperm, Floresto Arizala, chief of the NBI’s Medico-Legal Division said on Monday. If they were not raped, why then were their pants unzipped, and some even almost pulled down? Bloating could be the cause, according to Arizala. “Bloating and decomposition will actually force (down) the zipper…Yung huli kong nakita 23 lang waistline na reported, nang mare-examine almost 40," Arizala says. (Bloating and decomposition will actually force down the zipper.The last one I saw only had a reported waistline of 23 inches, but when she was examined, her waistline had increased to almost 40.)
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV It takes hours before a dead body bloats. “Bloating begins about eight to nine hours after the victim is slain, and it starts in the abdomen area," explains Dr. Benito Molino, a veteran forensics consultant who observed the autopsies done on Maguindanao massacre victims. However, Khu’s observation differs from that of Arizala. The police officer said that the authorities who first went to the crime scene - about three hours after the grisly killings took place - saw that the pants of the women were already unzipped. If it takes eight to nine hours before a dead body bloats as pointed out by Molino, it indicates that the pants had already been unzipped even before the bodies got bloated.
Molested? Robbed? Other angles are being looked into by Khu and Molino to explain why the women’s pants were unzipped. “If they were not raped, they could have been molested before they were killed. If not, perhaps the perpetrators had to take off the victims’ clothes because they have a culture in that place where women often hide their valuables – like money and cellphones - in their underwear," explains Khu. In addition to murder, Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., was accused of theft and robbery by Buluan vice mayor Ismael Mangudadatu, who lost his wife, sisters, and other relatives in the massacre. According to police reports, Ampatuan and about 100 gunmen clad in camouflage fatigues robbed the victims - 21 females and 36 males - that rode on a convoy heading toward Shariff Aguak town. Molino agrees, the practice of hiding valuables in women's underwear could be a factor. “Perhaps the perpetrators were looking for cellphones and money tucked in the underwear of the female victims." For Khu and Molino, the NBI’s findings remain inconclusive. Khu said that he was told by a police officer from the Scene of the Crime Operations in Region 12 that one female victim was found to have traces of sperm in her body. “But it remains to be tested, we don’t know yet how she got the sperm, which usually stays in the body for 72 hours," says Khu. Molino said that not all of the female victims had undergone the smear test thus making the NBI’s findings incomplete. Arizala is also not discounting the possibility that the results of the tests might have been affected by the bodies’ “state of decomposition" and the time that elapsed before the tests were conducted. A DNA test could be done for a more conclusive result, according to Arizala. Before the results of the tests were announced by the NBI, Molino claimed that authorities lacked the equipment needed to gather and preserve maximum evidence from bodies already in advanced states of decomposition. Molino lamented that there were no refrigerators, not even air-conditioners to help preserve the bodies. “They could have at least used lime to slow down the process of decomposition but I did not see any indication that they did that." "When the state of decomposition is this advanced, even identification can be questioned," he added.
- AR Sabangan, GMANews.TV 
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