UniTeam senatorial candidate Harry Roque will push to improve the country’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing facilities if victorious this coming May.
His reason for this is the increased demand for DNA testing specifically for the purpose of crime scene investigation, as well as post-conviction DNA testing.
Roque, during his tenure in the House of Representatives from 2016 to 2017, principally authored and introduced House Bill (HB) 5983 titled “An Act Improving DNA Facilities in the Country".
If elected to the Senate, he would re-file the bill, which has been pending with the House Science and Technology Committee since July 2017.
"Noticeably, despite our growing reliance on DNA analysis, there is a dearth of DNA legislation in the country," Roque wrote in HB 5983.
"The value of DNA analysis in casework has been proven particularly in disputed parentage cases, post-conviction DNA testing, and crime scene investigations including the search for missing persons," the bill continued.
Under the measure that Roque is promising to refile, the state would acquire more DNA testing equipment and allocate a budget for use in testing, noting DNA facilities that receive funding under the proposed act “may not use more than 10 percent of such funds for administrative expenses".
The bill has a Senate bill (SB) counterpart numbered SB 2802 and was introduced by the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Roque is gunning for a senatorial seat as part of the UniTeam slate led by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.