Rule on DNA EVIDENCE
RATIONALE: (Adapted from THE COURT SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Vol. 12, No. 3, September 2007 issue)
The first time the Supreme Court (SC) acknowledged the admissibility of DNA evidence was in People vs. Vallejo alias Puke (GR No. 144656, May 9, 2002). Aside from formally and finally recognizing DNA evidence in jurisprudence, the High Court in Vallejo likewise laid down the standards to be considered in assessing its probative value. While acknowledging that DNA forensic analysis, if properly utilized by the Bench and Bar, can contribute significantly in helping to resolve many disputes and assist the courts in the delivery of justice, the SC is likewise aware that the indiscriminate and wholesale acceptance of DNA evidence, which is inherently influential and compelling, can result in even graver injustice.
As gatekeepers of evidence and, more importantly, as fact-finders and initial decision-makers in the Philippine legal system, trial judges are tasked with ascertaining the admissibility of expert evidence, including testimony on DNA test results and, thereafter, assessing their credibility. In performing these tasks, trial judges should not only be aware of the underlying technology of DNA evidence and its real significance but, more importatnalty, should be given prescribed parameters on the requisite elements for reliability and validity (i.e., the proper procedures, protocols, necessary laboraotry reports, etc.), the possible sources of error, the available objections to the admission of DNA test results as evidence as well as the probative value of DNA evidence.
On the part of the members of the Bar, their primary task is to protect the interest and welfare of their clients within the bounds of the law. To successfully perform this task, it is essential that the members of the legal profession are well-informed of the processes and procedures relative to the introduction and presentation of DNA evidence and, more importantly, are given proper grounds for objecting to, and/or assailing the credibility of, DNA evidence, a piece of evidence that is commonly mistaken as infallible. Indeed, it is only when the party litigants and their counsel are well-informed and sufficiently armed with statutory guidance that the adversarial system may weed out "junk science" from the evidence on record.
The Rule on DNA Evidence is intended to be the guide to both the Bench and the Bar for the introduction and use of DNA evidence in the judicial system. Being a relatively new technology, guidance is necessary to ensure that the evidence gathered using various methods of DNA analysis is utilized effectively and properly, shall not be misused and/or abused and, more importantly, shall continue to ensure that DNA analysis serves justice and protect, rather than prejudices, the public.
(To be continued…)
