BuCor to bury 60 more remains of inmates

AT least 60 more remains of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) left unclaimed at the accredited funeral parlor of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) will be buried this week, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said.

“Next Friday, 60 more PDLs will be buried. There are about 40 cadavers left that are planned for autopsy,” BuCor Officer in Charge Gregorio Catapang said in a radio interview on Monday.

The 41 cadavers at the Eastern Funeral Homes in Muntinlupa City will possibly be transferred to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine where they will be autopsied.

Earlier this month, 10 bodies were buried at the NBP cemetery while 60 unclaimed cadavers were buried last Friday.

The cadavers were among the 176 bodies found at the Eastern Funeral Homes, the lone accredited funeral parlor of the NBP, last October during the investigation of the death of Cristito Villamor Palaña, an inmate who was identified as one of the middlemen in the killing of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.

Catapang said the NBP has reached out to the families of the dead inmates.

He said the cadavers that will be buried are in an advanced state of decomposition.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier ordered the autopsy of the remains to determine the cause of death and if there was foul play.

Remulla said forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun has autopsied at least five cadavers.