19 inmates die in Bilibid as number of COVID-19 cases reaches 343 —BuCor spox

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on Monday said that 19 inmates in New Bilibid Prison (NBP) who tested positive for COVID-19 have already died.

Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, BuCor spokesperson Colonel Gabriel Chaclag said the national penitentiary has recorded 343 COVID-19 cases, as of Monday.

“So far, nama-manage po natin 'yung mga cases ng COVID-19. As of this day, ang tally po natin ay 343 ang confirmed cases, since the start of the pandemic,” Chaclag said.

“Out of the 343, 311 po ang recovered patients natin. And the number of deaths ang total po ay 19,” he added.

Some of the cases came from Building 14, he further said.

Chaclag said those with mild cases are staying in an isolation area designated at Site Harry inside the prison. Currently, there are 300 beds available for COVID-19 cases in the facility, he said.

Once the patients need critical care, Chaclag said they will be brought to partner hospitals.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Monday vowed to investigate the deaths of inmates due to COVID-19, its spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said.

“Noon pang Marso, nakikipag-ugnayan na kami sa jail authorities sa sitwasyon roon sa kulungan amid COVID-19, including deaths under custody. Ito pong bagong report, makakaasa po kayo na kami ay magsasagawa ng aksiyon,” de Guia said in a Dobol B sa News TV interview. 

On Sunday, it was reported that a man named Jaybee Niño Sebastian died and his remains have been cremated.

According to a report by GMA News stringer Rossel Calderon on Dobol B sa News TV, a death certificate showed that a 40-year-old man named Jaybee Niño Sebastian died on Saturday at the NBP Hospital.

The cause of death, as listed on the death certificate, was acute myocardial infarction as a complication of COVID-19.

In October 2016, at a House hearing on the alleged drug trade inside the NBP, high-profile inmate Jaybee Niño Sebastian tagged Senator Leila de Lima as a protector of illegal drug operations in the facility.

BuCor chief Gerald Bantag on Sunday confirmed that there have been persons deprived of liberty (PDL) at the NBP who died of COVID-19. For his part, Raymund Liboro, chairman of the National Privacy Commission, said it is up to the Department of Justice (DOJ) or BuCor to confirm if Sebastian indeed perished from COVID-19 while incarcerated.

"Dahil ang controller ang may tangan ng record na iyan ay ang Department of Justice at ang Bureau of Corrections, sila ang merong polisiya dito based on their mandate, based on their policy in upholding public interest," he said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Sunday said he has summoned Bantag to his office on Monday regarding the matter. —AOL/KG/KBK, GMA News