Why Dr. Raquel del Rosario-Fortun is someone to look up to
They rose. They lifted others.
A leading forensic pathologist and educator who strengthened science-based death investigation in the Philippines and trained others to pursue truth through evidence.
The Doctor Who Lets The Evidence Speak
When a person dies under violent, suspicious, or unexplained circumstances, finding the truth requires more than an autopsy.
It requires science, careful documentation, examination of injuries, bones, clothing, medical records, the death scene, and the chain of evidence surrounding the case.
For more than three decades, Dr. Raquel Barros del Rosario-Fortun has devoted her career to bringing that scientific rigor to death investigation in the Philippines.
She is recognized by the University of the Philippines as the first Filipino woman forensic pathologist. After medical training in the Philippines, she pursued specialized forensic-pathology training at the King County Medical Examiner’s Office in Seattle and additional training in legal medicine in Japan.
She returned to the Philippines in 1995 and chose to build her career here.
That decision placed her at the center of some of the country’s most difficult death investigations.
Her work has included major mass-fatality and criminal cases, among them the Ozone Disco fire and the Maguindanao massacre. In these and other cases, she repeatedly emphasized the importance of proper identification, careful scene investigation, preservation of evidence, and scientifically sound autopsy practice.
But perhaps her greatest contribution is larger than any single case.
For decades, Dr. Fortun has argued that the Philippines needs a modern and professional system for investigating suspicious deaths. She has spoken openly about the shortage of trained forensic pathologists, inadequate death-investigation practices, and the danger of losing evidence when bodies and crime scenes are poorly handled.
A Teacher As Well As A Scientist
Dr. Fortun is also an educator at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, where she has taught generations of physicians in pathology, autopsy practice, and forensic medicine.
In 2006, she was recognized as one of the Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Teachers.
Her role as a teacher may prove to be one of her most lasting contributions.
After decades of advocating for stronger forensic medicine in the Philippines, efforts are now underway to expand forensic training and build stronger institutions for death investigation.
Reflecting on these developments in 2024, she said:
“I waited 30 years for this.”
The Exhumed Victims
Beginning in 2021, another chapter of her career brought her wider public attention.
Families of people killed during the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign began exhuming relatives whose cemetery leases were expiring. Working with the families and with Fr. Flaviano “Flavie” Villanueva, SVD, and Project ARISE, Dr. Fortun began examining the remains.
She reconstructed skulls, studied bones for evidence of gunshot wounds, and compared her findings with official records and death certificates.
By April 2022, she had examined 46 sets of remains. She reported gunshot wounds in at least 32 cases, while several death certificates had listed natural causes such as pneumonia, sepsis, or hypertension.
Her work also included the remains of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos. During a later examination, she found an intact bullet that earlier postmortem examinations had failed to recover.
These cases brought national attention to her work, but they do not define her career.
They are part of a much larger mission she has pursued for decades:
Let the physical evidence determine what can be said - not politics, not assumption, and not pressure.
A Legacy Of Science And Service
Dr. Fortun’s career stands at the intersection of medicine, science, law, public health, and justice.
For families of disaster victims, forensic science can identify a loved one.
For homicide investigations, a carefully documented wound can become crucial evidence.
For the wrongly accused, reliable forensic science can protect the innocent.
And for society, a scientific record can preserve the truth long after memories fade.
Dr. Raquel Fortun has spent more than three decades examining those who can no longer speak, teaching others how to do that work properly, and pushing the Philippines toward a stronger and more credible system of forensic medicine.
The Dead Cannot Testify.
But The Evidence They Leave Behind Can.
And Dr. Raquel Fortun has made it her life’s work to make sure that evidence is heard.