WHAT IS A COMBINED DNA INDEX SYSTEM?

DNA science began in the mid-1800s when a Swiss physician named Friedrich Miescher first isolated what he called “nuclein.” But its true foundation was laid only in 1953, when James Watson and Francis Crick, building on the X-ray diffraction work of Rosalind Franklin, discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. That discovery changed biology—and justice—forever.

Yet here we are, 72 years later, still without a national DNA index system of our own.

That’s a shame. Because while DNA technology has transformed forensic investigation in countries like the United States, it remains underutilized in the Philippines, even though we have the brains, the labs, and the will to use it.

🔬 What is CODIS?

The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is the U.S. FBI’s DNA database—one of the most powerful tools in modern law enforcement. It allows police, crime labs, and prosecutors to compare DNA profiles from crime scenes, convicted offenders, arrestees, and missing persons.

Think of it as the fingerprint system of the genetic era.

CODIS operates in three levels:

Local DNA Index System (LDIS): Laboratories upload profiles.
State DNA Index System (SDIS): Aggregates data statewide.
National DNA Index System (NDIS): The FBI-managed hub that connects it all.

When a new DNA sample is uploaded, the system’s matching algorithm scans millions of profiles for a hit—sometimes linking crimes that happened years apart or in different states. In the U.S., CODIS reportedly contains over 20 million offender profiles and has aided in more than 600,000 investigations as of 2024 (according to the FBI).

⚖️ Why it matters

DNA science is not just about convicting criminals—it’s also about exonerating the innocent.
How many people today are still languishing in Philippine jails because we cannot access or match DNA evidence to prove their innocence?

Every time a crime remains unsolved or a wrongful conviction stands, it’s not just a failure of justice—it’s a failure of technology adoption.

I have always believed in using science as a tool for justice. When I was a young Foreign Service Officer, I helped the NBI set up its first Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Later, as Director General of the National Computer Center, I implemented the National Crime Information System (NCIS) that linked our five pillars of justice. Those projects taught me that systems—properly designed and supported—can dramatically improve the delivery of justice.

So I ask: why not a DNA information system next?

🇵🇭 The Philippine context

To be fair, we have made some progress.
The PNP Crime Laboratory already maintains DNA profiles for forensic use, and the University of the Philippines DNA Analysis Laboratory provides technical expertise for casework, research, and even disaster victim identification. But these efforts are fragmented.

We have no nationally linked DNA database, no standardized collection and comparison system, and no law mandating how DNA samples should be stored, used, or shared.

Yes, we could technically link to the U.S. CODIS under cooperation agreements—but I believe we can and should develop our own. Filipino programmers, data scientists, and forensic specialists are more than capable.

When I implemented the NCIS years ago, we did it through an Executive Order. That model could work again—but ideally, a special law should institutionalize a Philippine DNA Index System to ensure privacy safeguards, data integrity, and sustainable funding.

🧩 Systems thinking: beyond crime

A national DNA system would not just serve law enforcement. It could also:

Identify disaster victims faster, especially in mass-casualty events like typhoons or earthquakes.
Locate missing persons by matching family samples.
Support health and genetic research, with strict ethical oversight.
Even explore blockchain-based DNA documentation, ensuring tamper-proof integrity and traceability for each sample.

At the barangay level, DNA databases could help families in disaster-prone or conflict-affected communities identify lost relatives or confirm kinship claims—if implemented with full consent and human-rights protection.

🚧 What’s stopping us?

Not the lack of technology—because that already exists.
Not the lack of talent—because Filipino scientists have long been at the forefront of genetics, forensics, and software development.

The missing ingredient is political will.

Every administration talks about modernizing law enforcement, yet projects like this often die in committee or get lost in bureaucracy. But we cannot keep postponing what the rest of the world already considers essential.

💡 My proposal

Let’s start with a Philippine DNA Index System (PDIS)—built under the Department of Justice and the Department of Science and Technology, connected to the PNP Crime Lab and NBI Forensic Division.

A public-private technical council could define the standards, while a small pilot database—say, for missing persons—could test the framework. Once proven, it could expand nationwide.

If the government needs help, I—and many others in the scientific and ICT community—would gladly volunteer expertise.

🧭 Final thoughts

In the 1970s, fingerprinting transformed law enforcement. In the 1990s, DNA profiling revolutionized it. And now, in the 2020s, digital and genetic databases are merging with artificial intelligence to redefine how we deliver justice.

It’s time we joined that revolution.

We cannot allow technology meant to protect the innocent and punish the guilty to remain unused simply because no one issued an executive order or passed a law.

Let us build our own CODIS—not as a copy, but as a proudly Filipino system that serves both truth and justice.

Because every unsolved crime and every innocent prisoner waiting for DNA proof is not just a statistic—it’s a story unfinished. And it’s up to us, finally, to complete it.

Ramon Ike V. Seneres, www.facebook.com/ike.seneres

iseneres@yahoo.com, senseneres.blogspot.com 04-22-2026

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