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DNA profiling services at UPD

As the Philippine justice system steps up the executions of criminals convicted of rape, murder and drug trafficking, the need to temper justice with mercy may be answered partly by the method of DNA profiling, and this method is available here in UPD.

DNA profiling, explained Dr. Jasmin Miranda, head of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB) Human Genome Analysis Laboratory, "involves looking for distinguishing characteristics in the DNA fingerprint or DNA profile of the individual, is visualized by electrophoresis and chemical staining of the DNA." Apart from the identity of a criminal, DNA analysis is also used for re-constructing the crime scene in hit-and- run incidents, establishing the person's gender, identifying human remains where fragments of bodies or very burnt bodies can be examined, and establishing genetic relatedness as in paternity cases.

Two UPD institutes offer DNA forensic profiling, the Natural Sciences Research Institute's DNA Analysis Laboratory, and the NIMBB Human Genome Analysis Laboratory. DNA testing is quite expensive. For a three-part paternity case, the testing fee is P45,000, and in a criminal case, it is P15,000 per test. There are also expert witness fees. In the United States, experts called to testify in court regarding DNA are paid US$1,000 per day to appear in court. With the increasing acceptance of DNA evidence in Philippine courts, NIMBB and NSRI are enhancing their capabilities for performing tests. Gene frequency databases of all ethno-linguistic groups and regional populations are already complete.

NIMBB is also putting up a graduate program for forensic science together with the College of Law. Judges, prosecutors and the rest of the public have yet to be fully informed about DNA analysis. This is due in part to the judicial procedure known as the Frye standard which states "the admissibility of the evidence is based on a general acceptance of the method." As of now, NIMBB and NSRI geneticists contribute to the information campaign regarding the use of DNA analysis in Philippine courts.

Two UPD colleges aid palengkes

The "future" Quinta Public Market as designed by senior architecture design students under Prof. Mary Anne Espina (right).

In an effort to help stall owners and vendors secure the right to manage and modernize the Quinta public market in Quiapo, Manila, a series of symposia was held at various UPD colleges beginning July 30.

Spearheaded by the Colleges of Law (CL) and Architecture (CA), the symposia focused on how to ensure the public market continues to serve the people well into the 21st century.

At the CL auditorium symposium, it was disclosed the CL Office of Legal Aid (CL-OLA) has been lobbying the Manila city government to award the right to privatize the market to the Quiapo Public Market Development Cooperative (QPMDC).

Traditional public markets need to modernize their facilities in order to compete with large shopping malls and supermarkets. However, local government units (LGUs) do not want to shoulder the cost. As a solution, local governments opt to offer the public markets on a build-operate-transfer scheme to private entities, with the right awarded to the best bidder.

However, since vendors and stall owners derive their primary source of income from selling goods at the Quinta public market, they have sought the right to manage the market.

"Malakas po ang paniniwala namin na kung kami mismo ang magma-manage ng market, ibayong magiging produktibo ito at mamo-modernisa," William Magno of QPMDC said.

OLA spokesperson Blas Viterbo said the right for QPMDC to manage the market is provided in the Constitution and in Republic Acts 7160 and 6938, or the Cooperative Code. These laws call for preferential rights or preferential treatment to cooperatives should the LGU initiate privatization.

Viterbo said cooperatives like QPMDC should be given opportunities to manage public markets as they are capable of doing so. Although QPMDC's resources are relatively small to compete with large corporations, they do have a circulating cash base of P10 million and loans of up to P14 million which are beneficial to its more than 300 members.

Viterbo also said there are enough government resources to aid the cooperatives, "There are laws which state that cooperatives have tax privileges, tax exemptions, so they are favored under the law, under the Agricultural and Fisheries and Modernization law. In fact the Department of Agriculture is slated to have a budget of P17 billion and about 5 percent of this should be allocated to post harvest facilities which include the management of public markets. So there is money out there somewhere to support these people."

QPMDC is seeking the right to manage the Quinta market, to avoid the same fate that befell Dapitan Market vendors. Dapitan Market was razed by fire in 1997, and its vendors, who were organized as a cooperative were not consulted when the Quezon City government decided to award the area to the Ithiel Corporation, a private firm. Arnold Manuel, Dapitan Vendors Development Cooperative chair, said the company built a multilevel shopping center and raised the stall fees causing many vendors to be displaced.

To modernize the Quinta Market, and give them an edge in the bidding procedure, QPMDC sought assistance from CA. Senior architecture design students visited the market to gain a more intimate picture of Quiapo and an idea of its historical, religious and economic significance.

"The structure built in the early parts of the century is really good.The steel structure is actually in good condition," architecture professor Mary Anne Espina said.

The architectural studies exhibited at the CL symposium envisioned a Quinta market with spacious alleys, natural lighting and well-ventilated stalls and walkways, and views that took advantage of the market's scenic placement beside the Pasig River. Many of the designs also integrated historical touches by using Spanish and traditional Filipino elements.

The designs were done to provide as Espina said, "a facility for Quinta market to exist in a manner that the business can be modernized, and yet retain the culture, the suki relationship and the tawad system that can only exist in the (public) market)."

Present at the symposia were members of the Dapitan and Quinta cooperatives, and the Cooperative Development Authority (Len Familara)