BuCor chief Catapang: There are no mass graves inside NBP

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. on Thursday said there are no mass graves inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

In an ambush interview, Catapang said there were no human remains found from the three septic tanks inside the NBP.

“Bale, tatlong septic tank, negative lahat, negative for human remains (There were three septic tanks which all yielded negative results, negative for human remains),” he said.

In July, former NBP Superintendent Angie Bautista said she received a tip from an inmate that there was a mass grave in the septic tank of the NBP.

Bautista said K9 units from the Philippine Coast Guard detected an alleged body from a septic tank while they were conducting search operations for then missing person deprived of liberty Michael Cataroja.

However, Dr. Annalyne Dadiz of the National Bureau of Investigation Medical Legal Team said the bone fragment found inside the septic tank was not from a human but from a chicken.

Cataroja was rearrested by Angono police last week. He had been evading authorities since July 7. Cataroja said he escaped from the NBP because he was bored and no one was visiting him.

No mass grave

In the ambush interview, Catapang said: “Wala namang mass grave. So we already submitted to the DOJ and Congress na finally na resolve na yung issue. Kung wala naman talagang mass grave, eh ‘di so be it.” 

(There’s no mass grave. So we already submitted to the DOJ and Congress that we finally resolved the issue. If there’s really no mass grave, so be it.)

When sought for comment, Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano welcomed the development.

“Syempre, relieved din tayo dahil ang kinatakutan natin na may ganoong klaseng problema ay wala naman pala,” Clavano said in a separate ambush interview.

(Of course, we are relieved that our fears that there is that kind of problem are not really anything.)

“So we hope no na patuloy na lang yung mga reporma po natin. Hindi na tayo lilingon sa likod kundi titingin na tayo sa future natin,” he added.

(So we hope that our reforms will continue. We will no longer look back but instead, we’ll look forward to our future.) — RSJ, GMA Integrated News