Dr. Aurelio Espinola, Guam\u2019s former chief medical examiner who also performed forensics services for the CNMI, has died in the Philippines. <\/p>\n
Espinola\u2019s demise was learned after 36th\u00a0Guam Legislature Speaker Therese Terlaje issued a statement last night expressing great sadness after learning of Espinola\u2019s passing. The cause of his demise and his age were not immediately available as of yesterday.<\/p>\n
According to Terlaje\u2019s statement, Espinola began working at the Guam Memorial Hospital in 1993 and retired in 2019.\u00a0 After 25 years of service to the people of Guam, Espinola returned to his home in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
It was learned from Terlaje\u2019s statement that Espinola actually delayed his retirement, from the age of 65 to 77 years old, and extended his term as chief medical examiner through January 2019, \u201crecognizing that finding his replacement as medical examiner would challenge the government and out of concern for the public.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a symbol of gratitude on behalf of the people of Guam, Espinola was honored via Resolution by the 32nd\u00a0and 34th\u00a0Guam legislatures.<\/p>\n
Terlaje\u2019s statement adds: \u201cDr. Espinola, the son of a dressmaker and a soldier, candidly expressed that his inspiration to become a doctor was borne out of poverty.\u00a0 After being refused treatment for his brother at a young age because his family lacked money, he resolved to become a medical professional and remained inspired by his commitment to assist those who could not pay for medical services. He studied obstetrics and gynecology and subsequently became an OB\/GYN, then studied anesthesiology and forensic pathology.\u00a0 Understanding the importance of the presentation of good forensic investigations as an aid for justice in court, he also studied at South Texas College of Law.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Espinola was also known as an avid boxer, for his sense of humor, and for his love of cooking good food, having studied for two years at the Guam Community College under their culinary program.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Espinola dedicated so much of his life in service to the people of Guam.\u00a0 On behalf of the 36th Guam Legislature and the people of Guam I would like to express a sincere\u00a0Un D\u00e5ngkulo Na Si Yu\u2019os Ma\u2019\u00e5se\u2019\u00a0to his family and send our sincerest condolences,\u201d Terlaje\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n
The CNMI, which does not have its own forensic pathologist, regularly employed Espinola\u2019s services when he was still in Guam and he would fly to Saipan to perform autopsies when needed. (Saipan Tribune)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr. Aurelio Espinola, Guam\u2019s former chief medical examiner who also performed forensics services for the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":380813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-380812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}