DoJ: Unclaimed PDL cadavers to PGH
Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla disclosed that 120 out of the 176 unclaimed cadavers of persons deprived of liberty will be brought to the Philippine General Hospital for autopsy.
Daily TribuneDepartment of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla disclosed that 120 out of the 176 unclaimed cadavers of persons deprived of liberty will be brought to the Philippine General Hospital for autopsy.
Remulla said that an autopsy will be done to determine if the PDLs died of natural causes or were summarily executed while serving their prison terms inside the New Bilibid Prison.
He revealed that the management of PGH and the Department of Justice would be signing a memorandum of agreement for the turn-over of the 120 bodies for pathological examinations.
The autopsy will be done by well-known forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun, who also conducted the second autopsy to Cristito Villamor, the alleged middleman in the killing of Percy Lapid.
Remulla explained not all of the 176 unclaimed bodies would be turned over to PGH since the hospital can only accommodate a maximum of 120 cadavers.
The bulk of the dead bodies of NBP inmates are currently stored at the Bureau of Corrections-accredited Eastern Funeral Homes in Muntinlupa City.
"We will determine the cause of death based on the carpeta or prison records and based on the death certificate and the actual autopsy to be conducted by Dr. Fortun," Remulla said.
The Justice chief added that in case the results of the autopsy on the cadavers would indicate possible foul play, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police would be tapped to conduct further investigation and case build up.
"The NBI will be given the first crack at this because it's a DoJ undertaking. The PNP will also be given a similar copy of all the results because we are conducting joint operation on this matter. This is also a police matter," Remulla said.
"They'll have the first crack because this involves scientific process. We want to have a hand in it. But we will also refer to the police because remember all of these people went to jail, died in jail. Many of them were dead because of the NBI or the police, so we have to give due courtesy to both agencies," he added.
Remulla said they will see what they will do to the remaining cadavers.
"We will see. The DoJ and its attached agencies' priority right now is to locate the families of these people. Remember these are people, cadavers of people who had families. We will try to give them a decent burial," Remulla said.
To recall, the DoJ secretary revealed the possibility of the existence of a criminal organization operating within the Bureau of Corrections is based on the discovery of unclaimed cadavers of inmates and contrabands seized following the suspension of BuCor director-general Gerard Bantag last month.