Forensic Science

TEODORO Agoncillo once chided me for asking too many what-if questions in history, ?Why concern yourself with what did not happen, when just reconstructing what happened is already a big challenge.?

I have never given up on the what-ifs because often what did not happen can be more engaging than what actually happened. Take for example, the debate over the cause of Napoleon?s death that textbooks set down as stomach cancer. There were forensic doctors who examined strands of Napoleon?s hair and found traces of arsenic, suggesting that the emperor of France did not die of natural causes and could have been murdered with regular doses of arsenic. This debate always makes me wonder if it is possible to re-examine Juan Luna?s ashes, now resting in the crypt of San Agustin Church in Intramuros, to validate whether he did die of angina pectoris, as stated in his death certificate in 1899, or whether he was murdered, by poisoning, as his family maintained. If it was simply a heart attack then the case is closed. If it was caused by poison, then the historian will have to track down a murderer and try to understand the motives for the crime.

Fortunately, not everything is open ended. In 1980, Apolinario Mabini?s remains were exhumed and studied by a group of orthopedic doctors led by Dr. Jose M. Pujalte who put to rest the rumor that the ?Sublime Paralytic? lost the use of his legs due to syphilis. No scandal there: Mabini was afflicted by polio.

Then we have pre-war autopsy reports on the recovered remains of Gregorio del Pilar, who was identified by relations from his teeth. Quite a dandy ?General Goyo? had uniforms with gold buttons and even a silver-plated revolver. He sported a gold crown that drew attention to his teeth marred by crowding or sungki. Like Jose Rizal, whose teeth caused his jaw to protrude, General Goyo needed braces. The bones excavated in Maragondon early in the 20th century by a group led by Guillermo Masangkay were photographed and has become the basis for the rumor that Andres Bonifacio was not executed by firing squad, but was hacked to death with bolos. This is all problematic because the Bonifacio ?bones? disappeared and were never seen again. The autopsy report on these bones does not state the cause of death, leading some people to question if these really were Bonifacio?s bones.

Another over-studied but fascinating bit of fossilized bone was that excavated by Dr. Robert Fox in 1962 in a pre-historic burial in Tabon Cave, Palawan. A skullcap of a human who lived thousands of years ago has been hailed as the ?Philippine Adam? or the ?Tabon Man.? I don?t know what conclusions were drawn from the recent radio-carbon dating and anatomical re-examination of the skull, but I do remember that there was a bit of a controversy when it was suggested that the skullcap might be that of a female, meaning we will have to change all the citations in scientific literature and textbooks to reflect the ?Tabon Woman? instead of the ?Tabon Man.?

Marcelo H. del Pilar has been pictured in textbooks as a journalist of integrity, as an expatriate in Spain who was so poor he could not return to the Philippines and had to pick up cigarette butts from the street to maintain his nicotine habit. We are taught that he died of tuberculosis resulting from his poor diet and long hours. But his letters to his wife and daughters describe symptoms that can revise history.

Once he complained of a headache that spread to his neck and shoulders. A Filipino physician gave him a prescription, but he chose to follow the advice given by a waiter at his favorite café that he rub hen oil on his neck, wrap himself up warmly and go to bed. He dealt with colds and fevers by inducing perspiration. This was a challenge in the winter, so he drank cups of hot tea, dusted Dover powder on himself, wore flannel clothes and hid under four blankets. In a letter dated Feb. 4, 1890, he told his wife:

?The illness I had did not last long. I felt a chill one night when I was sleeping because it is very cold here and our house does not have heating. It was all right when winter had not set in. Because of the cold, I vomited a lot. I was on the verge of shivering, that?s why I put on my shorts, pants, waistcoat, morning coat, overcoat, shoes, and cap, then jumped back in bed wrapping myself with two blankets.

?I thank God that I was able to sleep till morning. I transferred to another apartment the next day, forfeiting my deposit, thus paying twice for lodgings, but I would die of the cold if I had insisted on staying. It was so cold, even before winter, I had to wear gloves inside the house. And when I went outside, I had to remove them because it was hot. My new house is not as cold as my other house, but you can?t receive important visitors here [because its small and not presentable].?

It can be said that the advances in forensic science have breathed new life into the dry bones of primary source historical research. What was once irrelevant detail in the past could be a clue important to the historian. When historical figures write about their dreams, what they ate, what they were feeling at the moment or symptoms of their illness can shed new light into their lives.