Unclaimed cadavers of Bilibid inmates to be transferred to UP College of Medicine for autopsy —Remulla

At least 120 of the 176 unclaimed cadavers of inmates at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) will be transferred to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine for autopsy, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Wednesday.

“Aalamin natin kung anong (We will determine their) cause of death based on the carpeta and based on the death certificate and the actual autopsy to be conducted by Dr. [Raquel] Fortun,” he said.

Remulla initially said the bodies would be brought to the Philippine General Hospital. 

He said the DOJ is already in negotiations with the college.

“We will try to locate the families first. Ask for their permission if possible. Kasi ipapa-autopsy muna natin. If possible, just be used for the pursuit of science for the UP College of Medicine,” he said.

According to Remulla, some of the bodies had to be buried because they were decomposing already.

“But I just got a report a while ago from acting director Catapang that 90 had been buried kasi nabubulok na,” Remulla said.

“We’re not sure yet. I will get the final details. I don’t know kung 90 or 19. Parang 19 ‘yung sinasabi sa akin hindi ako sure. Kailangan ilibing na,” he later said.

The results of the autopsies will be given first to the National Bureau of Investigation and then to the Philippine National Police, he added. 

Remulla earlier said the police would look into the reasons behind the inmates’ deaths.

Around 176 bodies of deceased inmates from the NBP were still at the Eastern Funeral Homes, the sole accredited funeral home of the Bureau of Corrections in Muntinlupa City, in Alabang since December 2021.

On Monday, Eastern Funeral Homes appealed to the government to bury the bodies to ease their storage problems.

Eastern Funeral Homes manager Charlie Bucani said these were natural deaths and some of the cadavers already underwent autopsy but have yet to be completed.

He said about 50 to 60 corpses are being added to the pile of cadavers per month. Among them was Cristito Villamor Palaña also known as Jun Villamor, the alleged middleman in the killing of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid.

Based on the initial findings from the BuCor, there were no signs of physical external injuries on Villamor's body, which may indicate that no foul play was involved.

But Fortun’s preliminary findings showed that the remains were found to have a “history of asphyxia by plastic bag suffocation.” —with Joahna Lei Casilao/KG/VBL, GMA Integrated News