PNP: Teachers’ slap did not kill Antipolo student

The cause of death of Grade 5 student Francis Jay Gumikib is not related to his teacher slapping him, the Antipolo City Police confirmed Wednesday.
This is based on the interpretation of the forensic unit of Rizal police from the results of Gumikib’s autopsy, Antipolo Police OIC Lt. Col. Ryan Manongdo said.
The rupture of the blood vessel in the brain of the student who died was “non-traumatic in nature,” the medico-legal office of the Philippine National Police-Forensic Group (PNP-FG) added.
“With regards to the layman’s term of the cause of death, intracerebral, cerebral edema is inflammation of the brain, and intracerebral hemorrhage the bleeding of the brain,” Lt. Col. Maria Analiza dela Cruz, chief of PNP-FG medicolegal office in Rizal, said.
“The cause of the intracerebral hemorrhage or the bleeding in the brain is the inflammation in the brain, and the cause of the intracerebral hemorrhage is what we will look at, so we said that the nature of the rupture of that vein was non-traumatic. Mostly it is a rare condition,” she added.
Manongdo also stated they had a case conference Wednesday afternoon with Gumikib’s family, and the results of the autopsy were explained to them.
Although the teacher was cleared of the homicide complaint, it is still possible to file a child abuse complaint against her, the officer added.
The Antipolo City Police will wait for Gumikib’s parents to file a complaint against the teacher.
Dela Cruz said it was the most common cause of intracerebral hemorrhage in the age group of the patient.
“At first it’s asymptomatic, then it’s all of a sudden. These roots are so fragile that they can rupture or burst spontaneously. In other cases, there is tension on that particular anomaly in the brain,” Dela Cruz said.
In the case of Gumikib, based on the CT scan, Dela Cruz said the hemorrhage “came from the innermost area” of the brain.
According to the Brain Injury Association of America, non-traumatic brain injuries are caused by internal factors, such as a lack of oxygen, exposure to toxins, and pressure from a tumor.
A traumatic brain injury is defined as an alteration in brain function, or other evidence of brain pathology, caused by an external force like assault.
The PNP-FG director, Brig. Gen. Constancio Chinayog Jr.m said that they could not release their opinion because they had yet to inform Gumikib’s parents.
“Although the autopsy report was already sent to the Antipolo Police Station, we cannot yet give the opinion because we have yet to inform the parents in due regard to their sensibility,” he added.