60 cadavers of Bilibid inmates to be buried on Nov. 25, some ‘mummified’ already

Sixty cadavers of Bilibid inmates from the Eastern Funeral Homes are set to be buried on Friday morning, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Gregorio Catapang Jr. said Thursday.

“Bukas ho, maglilibing tayo ng 60 (tomorrow, we will bury 60),” Catapang said during the program for the release of more than 200 persons deprived of liberty.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla in an ambush interview confirmed that 60 cadavers are set to be buried on Friday.

He said these were all from the Eastern Funeral Homes.

“Hindi na kaya i-autopsy ang iba, eh, kasi advanced state na. Mummified na nga ‘yung iba, talagang natuyo na. Very dry. So very, very valiant effort ang kinakailangan para malaman mo talaga sa autopsy,” he said.

(Some of them can no longer be autopsied because they are already in an advanced state. Some are already mummified and very dry. Very dry. So valiant effort is really needed for an autopsy.)

The cadavers will be buried at the NBP Cemetery.

In early November, authorities found 176 bodies of deceased inmates from the New Bilibid Prison at the Eastern Funeral Homes.

Catapang previously said 10 bodies had been buried already

Meanwhile, Remulla was eyeing the transfer of the cadavers to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine for an autopsy.

Asked when the memorandum of agreement with UP will be signed, Remulla expressed hope that things will be cleared in the next seven to 10 days.

“Ano kasi syempre marami talagang ginagawa ngayon and year end pa… meron ho tayong mga kailangan tapusin,” Remulla said.

(Because we are doing a lot of things and it’s the end of the year… we need to finish a lot.)

Meanwhile, Remulla said he will talk to forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun during the weekend so they can update each other.

“And just to make sure that we’re on the same page about what we want to happen in the future. Kasi na delay pa 'yung signing namin ng MOA with the University of the Philippines,” he said.

(And just to make sure that we’re on the same page about what we want to happen in the future. Because the signing of the MOA with UP was delayed.)

When asked about investigating high-profile inmates at the NBP who supposedly died due to COVID-19, Remulla said there are “feelers” of these persons who wish to speak about happenings within the BuCor.

“PDLs din 'yung marami. PDLs din 'yung nakakaalam ng maraming bagay. Sila talaga. May kasabihan pa nga, if the walls could talk nagsalita na lahat 'yan. Syempre there are a lot of secrets behind the whole complex,” he said.

(Most of them are PDLs. The PDLs really know a lot. There’s saying that if the walls could talk, they would have already spoken. Of course, there are a lot of secrets behind the complex.)—AOL, GMA Integrated News