The National Bureau of Investigation is probing the apparent falsification of the death certificates of some people reported killed during the past dispensation's campaign against illegal drugs.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla on Thursday revealed the ongoing NBI probe following a Court of Appeals order to the civil registry of Caloocan City to correct the cause of death listed in the death certificate of a nine-year-old boy.

The CA said the boy apparently died from a gunshot wound fired during an anti-illegal drugs operation in December 2016, and not from "bronchopneumonia" as claimed in the questioned document.

"Of course that's falsification," Remulla said, referring to the boy's death certificate. "We have nine cases we are investigating as wrongful deaths," the Department of Justice chief said.

Daily Tribune was trying to confirm if the boy's case is one of those being investigated by the NBI.

Remulla explained that death certificates had been found to be inconsistent with actual causes of death based on exhumations and forensic examinations done at the request of the families of the deceased.

Forensics pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun said at least seven of the 56 remains she autopsied last April died from gunshot wounds and not from the listed natural causes of death.

Coverup efforts?

Among the natural causes of death cited for the seven were sepsis, acute myocardial infarctions, pneumonia, hypertension and stroke.

Fortun chided the doctors who staked their respective reputations, names and licenses by allegedly falsifying death certificates, a criminal act that may be considered part of coverup efforts.

One case involved a 47-year-old driver from Caloocan City who disappeared on 31 July 2016 and was found by his wife the next day with a gunshot wound in the head.

The funeral home allegedly asked the wife for P15,000 to have the body autopsied on top of P35,000 for funeral services.

She said she agreed to sign a waiver and to have an illness — pneumonia — be put on the death certificate as the cause of her husband's demise.

Before the remains were brought to the funeral home, the man, "Alfred" was left on the street, dead from his gunshot wound, his mouth taped and a placard with the words "pusher ako, 'wag tularan" (I'm a pusher, don't be like me) placed near his body.

Sachets of the illegal drug shabu were allegedly retrieved from the cadaver.