University of the Philippines College of Law

Topic Rights of a Witness (Rule 132, Section 3; RA 1379, Section 8; PD 749)

Case No. G.R. No. 148220. June 15, 2005
Case Name Herrera v. Alba
Ponente Carpio, J.
Digester MSI / Group 3

Quick Facts
Cause of Action Petition for compulsory recognition, support and damages
(Complaint/ Information)
Evidence in Question DNA paternity testing
How was it raised to the SC? Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65
Trial Court Decision Granted Alba’s motion to conduct paternity testing
Supreme Court Decisions Affirmed CA (which affirmed RTC)

SUMMARY
Thirteen-year old Alba, represented by his mother, filed a petition for compulsory recognition, support, and damages against
Herrera. To expedite the proceedings, Alba filed a motion to direct the takin of DNA paternity testing. Herrera objected to the
motion, contending that the test has not gained acceptability and violates his right against self-incrimination. The Court said
that DNA testing is a valid probative tool in this jurisdiction and that it does not violate the right against self-incrimination.

RELEVANT FACTS
 Then 13 yr. old Rosendo Alba (“respondent”), represented by his mother Armi Alba, filed before the trial court a
petition for compulsory recognition, support and damages against petitioner.
 Petitioner Herrera filed his answer with counterclaim where he denied that he is the biological father of Alba. He
also denied physical contact with Alba’s mother.
 Alba filed a motion to direct the taking of DNA paternity testing to abbreviate the proceedings.
o To support the motion, Alba presented the testimony of Saturnina C. Halos, Ph.D. In said testimony, Dr.
Halos described the process for DNA paternity testing and asserted that the test had an accuracy rate of
99.9999% in establishing paternity.
 Herrera opposed DNA paternity testing and contended that it has not gained acceptability. He further argued that
DNA paternity testing violates his right against self-incrimination.
 RTC: granted respondent’s motion to conduct DNA paternity testing
 Herrera filed a MR and asserted that “under the present circumstances, the DNA test [he] is compelled to take would
be inconclusive, irrelevant and the coercive process to obtain the requisite specimen..., unconstitutional.” This was
denied.
 Herrera filed before the appellate court a petition for certiorari under Rule 65. He asserted that the trial court
rendered the Orders “in excess of, or without jurisdiction and/or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or
excess of jurisdiction.” Petitioner further contended that there is “no appeal nor any [other] plain, adequate and
speedy remedy in the ordinary course of law.
 CA: denied petition; affirmed RTC; stated that petitioner merely desires to correct the trial court’s evaluation of
evidence. Thus, appeal is an available remedy for an error of judgment that the court may commit in the exercise of
its jurisdiction. The appellate court also stated that the proposed DNA paternity testing does not violate his right
against self-incrimination because the right applies only to testimonial compulsion. Finally, the appellate court
pointed out that petitioner can still refute a possible adverse result of the DNA paternity testing.
 Petitioner further submits that the appellate court gravely abused its discretion when it authorized the trial court “to
embark in [sic] a new procedure xxx to determine filiation despite the absence of legislation to ensure its reliability
and integrity, want of official recognition as made clear in Lim vs. Court of Appeals and the presence of technical
and legal constraints in respect of [sic] its implementation.” Petitioner maintains that the proposed DNA paternity
testing violates his right against self-incrimination.

Issue
W/N DNA testing violates the
right against self-incrimination
NO
[Admissibility & probative
value of DNA Analysis as
evidence]
W/N a DNA test is a valid
probative tool in this jurisdiction
to determine filiation or whether
DNA analysis may be admitted
as evidence to prove paternity –
YES
University of the Philippines College of Law
ISSUE/S & RATIO DECIDENDI
Ratio
 Section 17, Article 3 of the 1987 Constitution provides that no person shall be
compelled to be a witness against himself. Petitioner asserts that obtaining
samples from him for DNA testing violates his right against self-
incrimination. Petitioner ignores our earlier pronouncements that the privilege
is applicable only to testimonial evidence.
 Obtaining DNA samples from an accused in a criminal case or from the
respondent in a paternity case, contrary to the belief of respondent in this
action, will not violate the right against self-incrimination. This privilege
applies only to evidence that is “communicative” in essence taken under
duress.
 The Supreme Court has ruled that the right against self-incrimination is just a
prohibition on the use of physical or moral compulsion to extort
communication (testimonial evidence) from a defendant, not an exclusion of
evidence taken from his body when it may be material. As such, a defendant
can be required to submit to a test to extract virus from his; the substance
emitting from the body of the accused was received as evidence for acts of
lasciviousness; morphine forced out of the mouth was received as proof; an
order by the judge for the witness to put on pair of pants for size was allowed;
and the court can compel a woman accused of adultery to submit for
pregnancy test, since the gist of the privilege is the restriction on “testimonial
compulsion.
As to admissibility:
 People v. Vallejo: “DNA, being a relatively new science, xxx has not yet
been accorded official recognition by our courts.” In Vallejo, the DNA profile
from the vaginal swabs taken from the rape victim matched the accused’s
DNA profile. We affirmed the accused’s conviction of rape with homicide
and sentenced him to death. We declared:
o In assessing the probative value of DNA evidence, therefore, courts
should consider, among other things, the following data: how the
samples were collected, how they were handled, the possibility of
contamination of the samples, the procedure followed in analyzing
the samples, whether the proper standards and procedures were
followed in conducting the tests, and the qualification of the analyst
who conducted the tests.
 Vallejo discussed the probative value, not admissibility, of DNA evidence. By
2002, there was no longer any question on the validity of the use of DNA
analysis as evidence. The Court moved from the issue of according “official
recognition” to DNA analysis as evidence to the issue of observance of
procedures in conducting DNA analysis.
 People v. Yatar- a match existed between the DNA profile of the semen
found in the victim and the DNA profile of the blood sample given by
appellant in open court. The Court, following Vallejo’s footsteps, affirmed
the conviction of appellant because the physical evidence, corroborated by
circumstantial evidence, showed appellant guilty of rape with homicide
 In re: The Writ of Habeas Corpus for Reynaldo de Villa.- the convict-
petitioner presented DNA test results to prove that he is not the father of the
child conceived at the time of commission of the rape. The Court ruled that a
difference between the DNA profile of the convict-petitioner and the DNA
profile of the victim’s child does not preclude the convict-petitioner’s
commission of rape.
University of the Philippines College of Law

 In the present case, the various pleadings filed by petitioner and respondent
refer to two United States cases to support their respective positions on the
admissibility of DNA analysis as evidence:
 Frye v. US: Just when a scientific principle or discovery crosses the line
between the experimental and demonstrable stages is difficult to define.
Somewhere in this twilight zone the evidential force of the principle must be
recognized, and while courts will go a long way in admitting expert testimony
deduced from a well recognized scientific principle or discovery, the thing
from which the deduction is made must be sufficiently established to have
gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs.
 State v. Shwartz - modified Frye standard ; While we agree with the trial court
that forensic DNA typing has gained general acceptance in the scientific
community, we hold that admissibility of specific test results in a particular
case hinges on the laboratory’s compliance with appropriate standards and
controls, and the availability of their testing data and results.
 Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - cautions that departure from
the Frye standard of general acceptance does not mean that the Federal Rules
do not place limits on the admissibility of scientific evidence. Rather, the
judge must ensure that the testimony’s reasoning or method is scientifically
valid and is relevant to the issue. Admissibility would depend on factors
such as (1) whether the theory or technique can be or has been tested; (2)
whether the theory or technique has been subjected to peer review and
publication; (3) the known or potential rate of error; (4) the existence
and maintenance of standards controlling the technique’s operation; and
(5) whether the theory or technique is generally accepted in the scientific
community.
 Kumho Tires Co. v. Carmichael, further modified the Daubert standard- If
scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact
to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified
as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may
testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is
based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable
principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and
methods reliably to the facts of the case.
 Obviously, neither the Frye- Schwartz standard nor the Daubert-Kumho
standard is controlling in the Philippines. At best, American
jurisprudence merely has a persuasive effect on our decisions. Here,
evidence is admissible when it is relevant to the fact in issue and is not
otherwise excluded by statute or the Rules of Court. Evidence is relevant
when it has such a relation to the fact in issue as to induce belief in its
existence or non-existence. Section 49 of Rule 130, which governs the
admissibility of expert testimony, provides as follows:
 The opinion of a witness on a matter requiring special knowledge, skill,
experience or training which he is shown to possess may be received in
evidence. This Rule does not pose any legal obstacle to the admissibility of
DNA analysis as evidence. Indeed, even evidence on collateral matters is
allowed “when it tends in any reasonable degree to establish the probability
or improbability of the fact in issue.”

As to probative value:
 In assessing the probative value of DNA evidence, therefore, courts should
consider, among other things, the following data: how the samples were
collected, how they were handled, the possibility of contamination of the
samples, the procedure followed in analyzing the samples, whether the proper
standards and procedures were followed in conducting the tests, and the
 University of the Philippines College of Law

qualification of the analyst who conducted the tests.

 In [a] paternity test, the forensic scientist looks at a number of these variable
regions in an individual to produce a DNA profile. Comparing next the DNA
profiles of the mother and child, it is possible to determine which half of the
child’s DNA was inherited from the mother. The other half must have been
inherited from the biological father. The alleged father’s profile is then
examined to ascertain whether he has the DNA types in his profile, which
match the paternal types in the child. If the man’s DNA types do not match
that of the child, the man is excluded as the father. If the DNA types match,
then he is not excluded as the father.
 It is not enough to state that the child’s DNA profile matches that of the
putative father. A complete match between the DNA profile of the child and
the DNA profile of the putative father does not necessarily establish paternity.
For this reason, following the highest standard adopted in an American
jurisdiction, trial courts should require at least 99.9% as a minimum
value of the Probability of Paternity (“W”) prior to a paternity inclusion.
W is a numerical estimate for the likelihood of paternity of a putative father
compared to the probability of a random match of two unrelated individuals.
An appropriate reference population database, such as the Philippine
population database, is required to compute for W. Due to the probabilistic
nature of paternity inclusions, W will never equal to 100%. However, the
accuracy of W estimates is higher when the putative father, mother and child
are subjected to DNA analysis compared to those conducted between the
putative father and child alone.
 DNA analysis that excludes the putative father from paternity should be
conclusive proof of non-paternity. If the value of W is less than 99.9%, the
results of the DNA analysis should be considered as corroborative evidence.
If the value of W is 99.9% or higher, then there is refutable presumption of
paternity. This refutable presumption of paternity should be subjected to the
Vallejo standards.

RULING

WHEREFORE, we DISMISS the petition. We AFFIRM the Decision of the Court of Appeals dated 29 November 2000 in
CA-G.R. SP No. 59766. We also AFFIRM the Orders dated 3 February 2000 and 8 June 2000 issued by Branch 48 of the
Regional Trial Court of Manila in Civil Case No. SP-98-88759.

SEPARATE OPINIONS

NOTES