EDITORIAL- No resting in peace

Imagine 176 bodies piled up in a funeral home, unclaimed, many for nearly a year now. This is the situation at the Eastern Funeral Services in Cupang, Muntinlupa – the mortuary accredited to receive cadavers from the New Bilibid Prison in the city. The funeral home management said the unclaimed bodies piled up beginning in December last year, with the Bureau of Corrections, which runs the NBP, turning over recently an average of 50 to 60 cadavers every month.

It’s no zombie apocalypse; these are merely bodies waiting for a decent burial even if only by the state. Some of the deceased could also be waiting for justice, if their deaths were from unnatural causes.

Yesterday the Department of Justice, which supervises the BuCor, announced plans to subject 120 of the cadavers to autopsy at the Philippine General Hospital. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the DOJ would first seek approval from relatives of the dead. The DOJ should also find out if relatives of the deceased have even been properly notified about the deaths.

The murder of NBI convict Cristito “Jun” Villamor Palaña apparently at the hands of fellow prisoners should lead to the strict enforcement of rules governing the death of any inmate in state custody, whether in national prisons run by the BuCor or local detention facilities operated by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Philippine National Police and local government units.

Forensic findings on the death of Jun Villamor indicated he died of asphyxiation from a plastic bag placed over his head. As the initial post-mortem conducted after the body was embalmed showed, that kind of death leaves no external physical injuries. But forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun managed to conduct a thorough autopsy that revealed foul play.

As such modes of killing can be common, and considering the environment for persons deprived of liberty, the body of any person who dies in state custody must be subjected to a proper autopsy before being released to a mortuary. The absence of external physical injuries is no reason to attribute the death to natural causes. And even if a medical condition really caused the death, it should be officially established in a credible autopsy.

Earlier this year, the National Bureau of Investigation filed murder charges against 22 members of the National Capital Region Police Office assigned to the NBP over the deaths of nine high-value Bilibid inmates ostensibly due to COVID between May and July 2020. Among the nine were Jaybee Sebastian and Pasig shabu tiangge operator Amin Imam Boratong.

While few tears may be shed for notorious criminals, the propensity for murder can be carried over to the world outside prison – as the killing of Percy Lapid shows. His murder should lead to reforms in the handling of any death behind bars.