JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday said that the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila will conduct an autopsy on the 120 unclaimed bodies of New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmates to find out the real cause of death.

According to Remulla, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to enter a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with PGH about the autopsy.

“Mag-mo-MOA kami ng PGH maybe by [Thursday morning]. Ang MOA namin will be about turning over 120 of these cadavers to the PGH for [an] autopsy for pathological examinations. Aalamin natin kung anong cause of death based on the carpeta and based on the death certificate and the actual autopsy to be conducted by Dr. (Raquel) Fortun. 120 of them will be turned over. That’s the capacity of the PGH,” Remulla said.

Some 176 bodies of deceased NBP inmates remained unclaimed at the Eastern Funeral Homes, the only accredited funeral home of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor.)

Middleman Jun Villamor was brought to this funeral home when he was pronounced dead at the NBP hospital.

Villamor, who had been serving time since 2019 for murder, frustrated murder, and violation of an election gun ban, supposedly relayed the “kill order” to self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial.

A BuCor report said Villamor was brought to the NBP Hospital around 1:30 p.m. after he was found unconscious at his prison dorm inside the maximum security compound of NBP.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun conducted an independent autopsy on Villamor’s body, and concluded that he died of suffocation after a plastic bag was placed over his head.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Hector Lawas