For 25 years, researchers at the University of the Philippines worked toward a single, urgent goal: to develop a locally made kit that could help survivors of sexual assault find justice through science.
That goal is now a reality, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints played a quiet but pivotal role in making it happen.
The Church's humanitarian services supported the initial production run of the SAI.Kit, the Philippines' first locally developed Sexual Assault Investigation Kit. Funding the manufacture of 2,000 kits that were delivered by October 2025. The kits are now being distributed to Child Protection Units and women's and children's desks across the country, along with training for health professionals on proper collection, handling, and storage of forensic evidence.
A Quarter Century in the Making
The idea first took shape in 2003, when University Research Associate Frederick Delfin of the UP Diliman Natural Sciences Research Institute DNA Analysis Laboratory (UPD-NSRI DAL) began designing a local kit for collecting forensic evidence from sexual assault survivors. For years, the prototype was little more than a large brown envelope, functional, but far from field-ready.
"Our prototype used to just be in a large brown envelope," said Miriam Ruth Dalet, a university research associate who worked alongside colleagues Minerva Sagum, Bea Gallardo, Gayvelline Calacal, and Nelvie Jane Soliven on documentation and packaging. "It had these big 15 mL tubes with color-coded labels."
In 2026, that humble prototype has become the SAI.Kit, a professional, user-friendly forensic evidence collection box developed in partnership with Manila Healthtek Inc. and set for commercial release in the first half of the year. The kit is guided by the Locard Exchange Principle, the forensic science tenet that every contact leaves a trace, and includes swabs, an instruction manual, and all tools a medical professional needs to collect samples that can hold up in court.
The Connection That Made It Possible
The path from prototype to production ran through an unexpected bridge.
Dr. Lilian Villamor, a former UP laboratory staff member with ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now working at the Department of Agriculture–Philippine Carabao Center, helped connect the research team with the Church's humanitarian committee.
"When talking to Manila Healthtek, they told us we would need around 2,000 kits to start production," Dalet recalled. The volume was necessary to make production cost-efficient, given that the kits are intended for use in government hospitals serving largely indigent patients. "That was a lot."
After initial discussions in 2024, the Church's humanitarian services agreed to support the initial batch. By October 2025, Manila Healthtek had delivered the 2,000 kits, crossing the threshold that made everything else possible.
Kits for Those Who Cannot Speak for Themselves
The SAI.Kit is designed to let evidence speak when victims cannot.
It is built for use by doctors in emergency rooms, child protection units, and women's and children's desks, settings where survivors, including children, arrive in the immediate aftermath of assault. The kit's instruction manual guides physicians on identifying likely points of contact based on a patient's account, and includes swabs designed for multiple areas of the body where perpetrator DNA may be present.
The 2,000 donated kits are being distributed to Child Protection Units and women's and children's desks nationwide, accompanied by training to ensure that collected evidence is handled correctly from the moment it is gathered, critical to ensuring its admissibility in court.
A Shared Commitment to the Vulnerable
Humanitarian service has long been a defining expression of the Church's presence in the Philippines. Since establishing its humanitarian operations in the country, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its humanitarian arm, Latter-day Saint Charities, have supported disaster relief, clean water access, education, and health initiatives across the archipelago, always with an emphasis on serving the most vulnerable, regardless of faith or background.
The support for the SAI.Kit reflects that same commitment, this time directed toward survivors of sexual violence, one of the most underserved populations in the Philippine justice system.
Rape remains among the most frequently reported offenses against women and children in the Philippines, yet conviction rates remain low, in part due to insufficient or improperly collected forensic evidence. The SAI.Kit is designed to close that gap, giving health workers the tools to collect evidence that can stand up in court, and giving survivors a better chance at justice.
Looking Forward
With the first 2,000 kits now in circulation and commercial production underway, the SAI.Kit is poised to become a standard forensic tool across government health facilities in the Philippines. Manila Healthtek Inc. is set to bring the refined version to market in the first half of 2026, making it available to a broader network of hospitals and clinics.
For the researchers who spent 25 years on this work, and for the Church that helped carry them across the finish line, the moment carries weight that goes well beyond the laboratory.
The work was always, as the researchers put it, inspired by malasakit or compassion. The kind that insists that evidence be gathered carefully, preserved faithfully, and presented in court so that justice becomes possible for those who need it most.
Sources: University of the Philippines Office of Public Affairs; UP Diliman Natural Sciences Research Institute DNA Analysis Laboratory; Smart Parenting, April 2026.