Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NO 144656 (2002)
FACTS: On July 10, 1999 (Rosario, Cavite), at about 1pm, 9-year old Daisy
Diolola went to her neighbors house to seek help in an assignment. It was a
Saturday. Gerrico Vallejo, the neighbor, helped Daisy in her assignment.
1. At 5pm of the same day, Daisys mom noticed that her child wasnt
home yet. She went to Vallejos house and Daisy wasnt there. 7pm,
still no word of Daisys whereabouts. The next morning, Daisys body
was found tied to a tree near a river bank. Apparently, she was raped
and thereafter strangled to death.
2. In the afternoon of July 11, the police went to Vallejos house to
question the latter as he was one of the last persons with the victim.
3. But prior to that, some neighbors have already told the police that
Vallejo was acting strangely during the afternoon of July 10.
4. The police requested for the clothes that Vallejo wore the day Daisy
disappeared. Vallejo complied and the clothes were submitted
for processing.
5. The person who processed the clothing was Pet Byron Buan, a Forensic
Biologist of the NBI. At the instance of the local fiscal, he also took
buccal swabs (mouth/cheek swabs) from Vallejo and a vaginal swab
from Daisys body for DNA testing. Dr. Buan found that there were
bloodstains in Vallejos clothing Blood Type A, similar to that of the
victim, while Vallejos Blood Type is O.
6. Buan also found that the vaginal swab from Daisy contained Vallejos
DNA profile.
7. Meanwhile, Vallejo already executed a sworn statement admitting the
crime.
8. But when trial came, Vallejo insisted that the sworn statement was
coerced; that he was threatened by the cops; that the DNA samples
should be inadmissible because the body and the clothing of Daisy
(including his clothing which in effect is an admission placing him in
the crime scene though not discussed in the case) were already
soaked in smirchy waters, hence contaminated.
9. Vallejo was convicted and was sentenced to death by the trial court.
ISSUE: WON the DNA samples obtained from Vallejos clothes and those of
the victim are admissible as evidence
HELD: Yes. The Supreme Court ruled that the findings of Buan (NBI forensic
biologist) are conclusive. The court reiterated that even though DNA
evidence is merely circumstantial, it can still convict the accused considering
that it corroborates all other circumstantial evidence gathered in this rapeslay case.