LOOK: Remains of 60 Bilibid inmates interred

MANILA, Philippines – The remains of 60 inmates were interred Friday morning at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) Cemetery in Muntinlupa City.

The 60 bodies are among the over one hundred discovered at Eastern Funeral Homes following the authorities’ search for Jun Villamor, the middleman who hired confessed gunman Joel Escorial to kill broadcaster Percy Lapid.

(Photo by Tetch-Torres-Tupas / INQUIRER.net)

The second batch of inmates were those who died from January to July 2022 and one who died in October.

The first batch of 10 bodies was interred earlier.

(Photo by Tetch-Torres-Tupas / INQUIRER.net)

Dr. Maria Cecilia Villanueva of the Directorate for Health and Welfare Service said  are that another batch of 60 bodies out of the 176 bodies stored at the funeral parlor will be interred next week.

Unclaimed bodies

Villanueva said first to be interred are the inmates already in an advanced state of decomposition and those already mummified.

As a matter of procedure, she said there is a 90-day waiting period after the notice for the relatives to come forward and claim the inmate’s body.

She explained that once a PDL has died, they reach out to the relatives or if from the provinces, they inform the superintendents of each camp to inform the relatives.

“They are advised of the deaths of their relatives. Kaya tumatagal ng 90 days kasi binibigyan sila ng pagkakataon na baka may dumating na relatives,” Villanueva said.

[They are advised of the deaths of their relatives. We give them time, 90 days, to claim the body of their relatives.]

“Yun nga rin po, masyado pong mahaba kaya yun ang nangyari naging mummified na [Unfortunately, due to the long time frame, the bodies become mummified],” she added.

However, despite the three-month period given to relatives, she said most of the time, no one comes forward to claim the body.

“Kaya po naiipon ng ganon. [That’s why the bodies pile up],” she said.

While others, she said, will come forward to get the death certificate but will no longer claim the body due to lack of resources.

Increase deaths and causes?

“Admittedly, during the pandemic, medyo marami ang deaths natin [Admittedly, during the pandemic, the number of deaths have increased],” Villanueva said.

But she said this year, the number of deaths decreased.

Villanueva said the inmates usually die of natural causes, meaning various illnesses.

She said prison health is public health, but they can only do so much “considering the congestion and even if we exert effort to provide the necessary healthcare.”

As of October this year, BuCor data showed NBP has a total inmate population of 29,204. The facility was built and designed in 1940 to accommodate only 6,345.

Six other BuCor-operated penal colonies – Davao Prison and Penal Farm, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, Leyte Regional Prison and the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City are also experiencing congestion problems.

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