MANILA, Philippines — The Senate's ongoing probe into the alleged mass grave at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) is taking a new direction, centering on the escape of the missing inmate from the national penitentiary.
In a statement released on Friday, Sen. Francis Tolentino, the chairman of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said they have pivoted to uncover the circumstances that allowed the person deprived of liberty (PDL) to slip away from NBP's maximum security compound.
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The decision follows the re-arrest of 25-year-old Michael Angelo Catarejo by authorities in Angono, Rizal more than a month after he was reported missing by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
"Matutuon ngayon ang hearing ng Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights kung paano nakatakas si PDL Michael Cataroja at kung ano ang naging kapabayaan ng [Bureau of Corrections] sa hearing sa Martes, Aug. 22, 2023,” Tolentino said.
(The upcoming Senate hearing will dig into how Michael Cataroja escaped and any possible lapses of the Bureau of Corrections. The hearing is set for Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023.)
Cataroja, sentenced to 12 to 20 years for violations of the Anti-Fencing Act Law, was initially reported missing on July 15. He was then apprehended on Thursday, August 17.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. has ordered an investigation into how Cataroja was able to escape from the NBP and to find out who were responsible.
Authorities used sniffing dogs to find the missing inmate. They followed the dogs to a Bilibid septic tank where they found a bone that was initially thought to be human.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla initially reported that Cataroja's remains had been found decapitated within a septic tank. He later clarified that this was a case of "fake news."
During the initial Senate hearing, a forensic expert from the National Bureau of Investigation informed a Senate committee that the bone found near a septic tank in NBP was not human but probably from a chicken leg.