JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said there could be three “mass graves” at the maximum-security compound of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City that could yield more remains of inmates missing for several years now.
Remulla also confirmed that the remains found inside a septic tank in the NBP’s maximum security compound is that of missing inmate Michael Angelo Cataroja.
Cataroja was reported missing last July 15, prompting Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. to ask for assistance from the Philippine Coast Guard and the National Bureau of Investigation in identifying the remains found recently.
“There could be two more mass graves in the maximum-security compound, in two septic tanks, and another site may yield more remains,” Remulla told CNN Philippines.
Remulla said the DOJ and BuCor are seeking the help of forensic experts.
He added an investigation is ongoing to determine how long bodies have been dumped in various locations inside the sprawling national penitentiary under the noses of BuCor officials.
He said this was before Catapang took the top BuCor post last year.
A retired Army general and former chief of the Armed Forces, Catapang was named to the post after Gerald Bantag was relieved and tagged as the alleged mastermind in the killing of radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa and Bilibid inmate Cristito Palana Villamor, the alleged middleman in the Lapid hit.
“This was before Catapang. We don’t know if it’s Bantag but we cannot conclude at once.
That’s why we need forensic anthropology here. They have to look at everything,” Remulla said.
He said it is common knowledge that some inmates have been missing for several years.
Remulla said since Catapang assumed the post, it has been “a journey of discovery” inside the national penitentiary.
“We just have to keep on digging,” he said, adding that given the long history of the NBP and the huge number of inmates, it will be a challenge.
Catapang is expected to submit an initial report on the matter today, Friday, Remulla said.
Last year, prison authorities discovered nearly 200 unclaimed bodies of inmates in a BuCor-accredited funeral parlor in Muntinlupa City.
Remulla said Cataroja’s decapitated body was found in the septic tank in the compound occupied by members of the Sputnik gang, one of the many gangs inside the national penitentiary.
“The body is with the Sputnik (tank) but the head is missing,” Remulla said, adding they are now looking for the missing head.
Cataroja’s remains were discovered with the help of a cadaver god.
Cataroja was committed to the NBP on July 26, 2022 after he was sentenced 12 years to 20 years for violations of Presidential Decree 1612 or the Anti-Fencing Act Law. He has another pending case of carnapping before the Regional Trial Court Branch 71 of Antipolo City.
PRISON FACILITIES
Remulla said the issue, along with the shooting incident at the NBP Tuesday night that left an inmate dead and nine others injured, shows the urgency to build regional prison facilities to decongest the national penitentiary.
He said Catapang has started decongesting the NBP by transferring inmates to other prisons and penal colonies but more needs to be done.
“Only around two percent of the inmate population had been moved. We will need a lot of help in building regional prisons. That’s the only way to humanize the corrections,” Remulla said.
Last month, 500 inmates from Bilibid and the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City were relocated to the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan.
They were the first batch of the 2,500 inmates from the national penitentiary that will be transferred to the IPPF and other penal farms across the country as part of efforts to decongest the NBP and pave the way for its eventual closure and transformation into a commercial and business center in 2028.
BuCor earlier said a total of 18,625 inmates are being eyed to be transferred until 2028 to the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm, Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Southern Leyte, IPPF, Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City.
Of the 50,126 inmates detained at the NBP and six other prison and penal facilities of BuCor, 29,530 are detained at the national penitentiary’s maximum, medium, and minimum-security compounds as of January 2023.
Of them, more than 17,000 are being held at the NBP’s maximum-security compound, including big-time drug lords at Building 14.
