The legal counsel and kin of Davaoeña artist Bree Jonson continued to cry foul, despite Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar’s claims that there was a simple misunderstanding between the PNP and Jonson’s camp in the retrieval of her missing organs.

“To be clear, there was no misunderstanding much less a misappreciation of the issues on the part of Bree’s family,” the Sunga Salandanan and Ampuan Law Offices said in a statement on Monday, October 4.

Sally Jonson, Bree’s mother, said she was dismayed by the red tape in the PNP, which made them undergo several alleged procedures in order to retrieve her daughter’s organs.

On September 20, during Bree’s first autopsy, some of her organs, particularly her stomach, heart, and trachea, had been removed. The PNP Region 1 Crime Lab said they were removed to get sample slices as part of evidence.

Three days later, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reported the organs still missing during the second autopsy, stating that the PNP had not yet made a formal turnover and endorsement of said organs.

Jonson’s kin and legal counsel immediately sent a request for the turnover.

Five days passed, and there was no definitive feedback from the police.

On September 29, Jonson’s party was able to contact Eleazar, and he replied that he would check on things from their end.

On October 1, the party received an e-mail from Police Brigadier General Pascual Muñoz Jr., PNP Crime Lab chief, stating that the request for the turnover of organs has been denied unless a court order for such has been issued.

This enraged Dr. Jonson, who was still grieving from the loss of her only child.

 “What I don’t understand is why you are denying the fact that you initially withheld the organs and asked us to file a court order as stated in your letter,” said Jonson in a statement to the PNP.

Jonson then personally confronted Eleazar on the matter, after which instructions for a proper turnover and endorsement of the organs to the NBI were made. A court order did not need to be issued.

Jonson urged the PNP to review their operating procedures.

“I don’t understand your so-called system. You had to make us go through red tape when all the while you can exercise your political will to expedite this matter,” she said.

Eleazar, in a statement published on October 3, claimed “the NBI has already seen the organs except that they could not decipher or distinguish clearly where the heart tissues are along with the stomach and trachea as they were cut into sections to fit the abdominal cavity.” – Rappler.com