MANILA, Philippines — The Senate will investigate the suspicious deaths and disappearances at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), where a septic tank was reportedly used as a “mass grave” for missing convicts, Sen. Francis Tolentino said yesterday.
In a dwIZ interview, Tolentino said the Senate justice and human rights committee, which he chairs, will hold a hearing at the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) conference room at the NBP compound in Muntinlupa on Aug. 8.
His committee will invite officials to shed light on the discovery of suspected human remains inside a septic tank, allegedly including the headless body of inmate Michael Angelo Cataroja.
Forensic experts from the National Bureau of Investigation have stepped in to collect evidence and identify the remains in the megaprison’s septic tank.
“We have to look at these issues, the mass grave, a reported shooting incident inside Bilibid and other collateral matters. It is also important to hold the hearing there so we can visualize,” Tolentino said in Filipino.
Besides the septic tank grave, the Senate probe will also look into the use of guns and bladed weapons inside Bilibid, the latest of which was a July 26 gang fight between the Bahala Na and Batang City Jail gangs that left one inmate dead and nine others wounded.
The Senate may not be able to stop the incidents from happening, but at least it would be put “in the right perspective,” Tolentino said.
In his resolution, Tolentino said the discovery of chopped-up body parts in the prison’s septic tank poses a security risk to the inmates and the correction officers.
The hearing intends to “shed light on how these things happened within the BuCor without the people manning the same knowing anything about it.”
“One wonders how these contrabands, i.e. guns, ice picks and other weapons, which caused death and injury to people were in the possession of these PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) and found their way inside the BuCor despite the protocols being observed therein by BuCor personnel and why the bodies of several dead PDLs were found inside the septic tank without these BuCor personnel knowing about it until recently,” the senator’s resolution read.
Tolentino also cited BuCor data showing that there were 673 deaths in Bilibid as of end-2022. The deaths include eight due to asphyxia, six by stab wounds, three by head injuries and one by gunshot.
Hold site inspection, DBM urged
Meanwhile, Manila District 6 Rep. Benny Abante, who chairs the House of Representatives human rights committee, urged the Department of Budget and Management to conduct a site inspection before deciding on BuCor’s budget.
“The problem with DBM is (its officials) decide on the budget while they do not really know what is happening,” he said.
Abante called on the DBM to visit the prisons run by BuCor to see the congestion problem.
“We ought to increase their budget so we will be able to solve many of the problems in our prisons,” he said.
Abante issued the call in reaction to a statement by Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who said the NBP, which is designed for 5,700 inmates, currently houses more than 36,000 inmates.
Remulla also said that the budget allocation for each inmate for three meals per day is P70, which is not enough to adequately sustain them.
He said that while some inmates receive financial support from their families, prison guards who receive the money get a cut of 10 to 20 percent of the inmates’ money.
According to Remulla, BuCor has long been requesting for DBM to increase its budget allocation but these requests have not been granted “because the government has other priorities.”