350 COVID-19 cases among BuCor inmates, personnel; 21 deaths — spox

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 350 inmates or persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and personnel at Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) facilities have contracted the coronavirus disease 2019, including 21 inmates who have died from the illness.

“Doon sa kabuuan, PDLs and personnel, umaabot na tayo ng 350 as of now,” BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo on Monday, when asked about the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the bureau’s facilities.

(There are 350 PDLs and personnel who have tested positive for COVID-19.)

In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Chaclag said that this figure is composed of 260 PDLs and 90 BuCor personnel.

Of the PDLs who tested positive for the virus, over 200 have recovered while 21 have died.

Meanwhile, 87 have already recovered among BuCor personnel who yielded positive test results for the disease. The remaining three personnel are undergoing home quarantine.

Chaclag noted that the figures are “very fluid” as the numbers are coming from a number of BuCor facilities. He said that the numbers will be reconciled within the day.

Meanwhile, he revealed that the BuCor’s Directorate for Health Services is eyeing personnel of the Department of Health and local government units, or the kin of COVID-19-positive inmates to be part of the documentation of the cremation of PDLs who died from the illness.

The involvement of a third-party witness for the cremation was raised by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, following the deaths due to COVID-19 of some high-profile inmates at the New Bilibid Prison, whose identities have been doubted by the public.

“Ang challenge doon or difficulty ay wala namang on-site na DOH office sa atin so we will have to request and coordinate. Pero sa ngayon ay nakikipag-ugnayan na po ang Directorate for Health Services,” said Chaclag.

(The challenge here is the DOH has no on-site office in BuCor, so we will have to request and coordinate. But currently, the Directorate for Health Services is already coordinating with them.)

He explained that BuCor had also originally wanted to tap third-party witnesses for the cremation to ensure transparency on the identities of inmates being cremated, but cited difficulties on the availability of such witnesses.

JE