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Presiding Judge : Hon. Lenie Seguis

For the Plaintiffs : Atty. Mae Duffyne B. Vender
For the Defendant : Atty. Charisse Faye L. Estobo

APPEARANCES
Interpreter : Appearances.

Mae : Good morning, Your Honor! Atty. Mae Duffyne B. Vender appearing for
the
Plaintiffs as lead-counsel together with my co-counsels Atty. Kenneth
Vince S. Olvis and Atty. Kristy Lou C. Pacillos.

JB : Good morning, your Honor! Atty. John Benedict B. Entrada appearing for
the Defendant as lead-counsel together with my co-counsels Atty. Gail L.
Tumulak and Atty. Charisse Faye L. Estobo.

Mae : Your Honor! On the last hearing, this case was referred to the Philippine
Mediation Center. However, no agreement was reached by the parties
despite efforts towards a settlement.

JB : Yes, your Honor! We confirm that the parties didn’t agree as to the
amount of the settlement.

Judge : Okay, Shall we proceed to trial. Are you ready counsels?

Mae : We are ready, your honor. For the Plaintiffs, your Honor, we are ready
with 1 witness.

JB : We are ready your Honor to cross-examine the witnesses of the plaintiffs.

Judge : Okay counsel, call your first witness.

Mae : Your honor, may we call to the witness stand our first witness, Dr.
Katherine G. Go.

Judge : Proceed.

Mae : Your Honor, the testimony of this witness is offered to prove that
The immediate cause of death of the deceased-passengers is Asphyxiation
due to drowning.

Judge : Call and swear in the witness.

Interpreter : Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth?

Witness : Yes, I do.

Interpreter : Your honor, the witness is, Katherine G. Go, 45 years old, married,
Filipino, and a resident of Ceniza Heights Subdivision Surigao City. Your witness, Atty.

Mae : With the kind permission of this Honorable Court.

Judge : Proceed.

Mae : Permission to approach the witness stand your honor!

Judge : Yes, you may approach Atty.

Mae : Would the defendant, your honor, stipulate that Dr. Katherine G. Go is an
expert witness?

Cha : With all due respect to Dr. Go, we cannot stipulate that she is an expert
witness because we are not familiar with
Dr. Go’s practice of forensic medicine.

Judge : Please qualify your witness counsel

Mae :

1. Q: Dr. Go, can you state your name and profession for the record please.
A: Yes, My name is Katherine G. Go, I am a certified forensic pathologist.
I am currently employed at Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory Office at
Philippine National Police- Provincial Government of Surigao as their medico-legal
officer.

2. Q: Dr. Go How long have you been a forensic pathologist ?

A: I have been a forensic pathologist since I received my board certification in 2001.
That would be a total of 18 years

3. Q: What did your duties entail as a forensic pathologist?

A: I am trained to perform autopsies to determine the presence or absence of disease,
injury or poisoning; to evaluate historical and law-enforcement investigative information
relating to the manner of death and collecting medical evidence.

4. Q: Dr. Go, you stated that you are currently employed at Philippine National Police
Crime Laboratory Office at Philippine National Police- Provincial Government of
Surigao. How long have you been so employed?
A: I have been employed for 3 years already.
5. Q: And what is your prior work experience in the area of forensic pathology?
A: Prior to that, I worked for 15 years as Consultant Pathologist Philippine National
Police Crime Laboratory Office at Philippine National Police in Quezon City.

6. Q: What did your duties entail as a Consultant Pathologist?

A: I conduct external and internal physical examinations of individuals and conduct
autopsies on cadavers presented in the Crime Laboratory.

7. Q: Dr. Go, can you tell the court the education you obtained to become a forensic
pathologist?
A: I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Biology Degree from the University of San
Carlos in the year 1990. In 1996, I graduated from medical school in Cebu Doctors
University and became a licensed physician in 1998 after passing the medical board
exam.

8. Q: Do you hold any other licenses or certifications?

A: Yes, In addition to becoming a licensed physician, I am a board certified Anatomic
and Clinical Pathologist after I undertook a four-year anatomic pathology and clinical
pathology residency program in St. Luke’s College of Medicine, Quezon City

9. Q: And Dr. Go is there any other training you’ve received in the field of forensic
pathology?
A: For the last 18 years, I have received 15 hours of continuing medical education a year
in my field as required for my licensing, which keeps me up to date in the field.

10. Q: Dr. Go, you stated that your duty as a forensic pathologist is to conduct autopsies on
the cadavers. Can you recall how many cadavers have you examined so far?
A: More or less around 650 cadavers now.

11. Q: Dr. Go have you ever testified as an expert witness in the court proceeding in the field
of forensic pathology?
A: Yes, I have made 120 testimonies as an expert witness as of this date.

12. Q: Have there been any occasions where you were not accepted as tendered?
A: No, there has not been any occasion.

At this time your honor I will tender the witness as an expert witness in the field of
forensic pathology, qualified by his experience and training to testify in the field.
 Judge: The expert is accepted as expert in the field of forensic pathology

DIRECT EXAMINATION PROPER

13. Q: Dr. Go, In the course of your employment were you tasked to perform the autopsy on
the body of the deceased Meriam Adarna and Fatima Alawi?
A: Yes, as their medico-legal officer, I was tasked to examine the cadaver of Meriam
Adarna and Fatima Alawi

14. Q: When did you examine the body? Kindly recall the exact date and time of the
examination.
A: I examined the body at 10 o’clock in the morning of February 18, 2019.

15. Q: Was that the first time you saw the bodies of Meriam Adarna and Fatima
Alawi ?
A: Yes.

16. Q: Can you describe the bodies upon seeing it?

A: Both the bodies are stiff but there were no scars, no deformities, no amputations, no
old surgical scars or venipuncture sites noted.

17. Q: Can you please discuss the examination you conducted on the body.
A: I conducted a post-mortem examination of the body to determine the cause of the
Death of both the victims

18. Q: Dr. Go what were your findings?

A: There is a fully developed rigor mortis in the face, jaw, upper extremities and lower
extremities, with a dark purple and fixed postmortem lividity at the lower extremities in
both bodies.Signs of beginning putrefaction were present swelling of the body, cloudiness
and softening of the conjunctive, the blood beginning to putrefy, the surface of the body
discolored.
From the table it can be seen that the fluid is not seen from the stomach alone and
that the presence of fluid in the alimentary canal is the result of swallowing in the first
and second stages of the drowning process. Concentrations of sodium and chloride ions
in the left and right chambers of the heart
 19. Q: Based on your findings, what is in your best knowledge, is the cause of death of the
victims?
A: The victims cause of death is Death by Asphyxia due to Drowning as was stated in my
autopsy report

20. Q:You mentioned, about an autopsy report that you have issued. If that autopsy report
will be shown to you, will you be able to recognize it?
A: Yes

21. Q: Showing to you this autopsy report, can you tell me the relation of this document to
the one you’ve stated?
A: Yes, that is the autopsy report that I mentioned

22. Q:Dr. Go there appears a signature above the name Dr. Katherine Go. Do you recognize
this signature?
A: Yes. That is my signature

23. Q: Do you affirm that you prepared, issued, and signed this medico-legal certificate?
A: Yes.

24. Q: Do you confirm that all that has been stated in this document and the contents of this
is true and correct?
A: Yes.

25. Q: Dr. Go, based on your autopsy report, you stated that there are Fluid and
Concentrations of sodium and chloride ions in the left and right chambers of the heart
that indicated the cause of death of the victims, are there any other external or internal
findings that may have caused injury or death to the victims?
A: There are no other markings or injuries aside from the Fluid and Concentrations of
sodium and chloride ions in the left and right chambers of the heart

- No More Further Questions Your Honor -

CROSS EXAMINATION

Q1:
Dr. Go can you please describe in detail by layman’s term what rigor mortis is?
A:
 When we say rigor mortis, it is the stiffness of joints and muscular rigidity of a dead body
caused by depletion of Adenosine Triphosphate in the tissues of the body. Lividity of livor mortis
is the setting of blood in the lower portion of the body, causing a purplish, dark red discoloration
in the body.

Q2:
Dr. Go can you also please describe in detail by layman’s term what is asphyxiation?
A:
Asphyxiation occurs when the body does not get enough oxygen. This impairs normal
breathing and may cause a person to become unconscious or even dead. One classification of
asphyxia is drowning. Drowning occurs when a person experiences breathing impairment due to
inhaling water or as we call suffocation. During drowning, the liquid enters through the person’s
mouth and nose, cutting off the body’s oxygen supply. Upon inspection to the body the only
thing I found is a large amount of fluids in the body. Sodium and chloride ions and there were no
legators and no marks in the left and right chambers of the hearts.

Q3:
In the chambers of the heart? Do you mean to say Doctor that the victims both had cardiac
arrest?
A:
Yes.
Q4:
Is it possible that cardiac arrest occurred before the actual drowning of the victims?
A: No.

Me: No more question your honor. That would be all your honor.

Redirect Question:

Q:
You mentioned that the victim suffered from cardiac arrest, but in your autopsy report you
mentioned that the cause of death is asphyxiation due to drowning, can you explain Doctor Go
the connection between the cardiac arrest and drowning?

A:
Cardiac arrest occurs when a diseased heart’s electrical system malfunction. In a normal cardiac
arrest there are no presence of sodium and chloride ions in the chambers of the heart, only those
who died through drowning where we can find Fluid and Concentrations of sodium and chloride
ions in the left and right chambers of the heart. In this case, proximate cause of the death is the
drowning and the cardiac arrest was secondary to asphyxiation due to drowning.