Headless human remains found in NBP septic tank

By Rey E. Requejo

and

Joel E. Zurbano

AHEADLESS human body was retrieved from a septic tank of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a ranking official of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) expressed suspicions that the septic tank has been turned into a dumping site for murder victims and could be holding more human remains.

Remulla said they may seek the help of forensic criminologist to conduct an investigation on the corpse.

Citing initial investigation reports, Remulla said the body was possibly inmate Michael Angelo Cartoja who has been missing since last July 15.

“The missing PDL (person deprived of liberty) has been found. He’s dead, decapitated. That’s the status of the missing PDL. And there will be other revelations in the next few days,” Remulla told reporters.

According to him, the incident was related to the recurrent killings inside the NBP before the watch of BuCor chief director general Gerald Catapang.

The Justice Secretary said they could not yet pinpoint culpability for the horrendous incident.

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“Still all sketchy for the moment. Everything is still in the exploratory stage and we’re still trying to find out, trying to get to the bottom of everything,” Remulla explained. He said a comprehensive report from Catapang is expected “at the end of the day.”

“They’re investigating. We will investigate this incident.

BuCor deputy director for operations Angelina Bautista said K9 units from the Philippine Coast Guard detected the body on Tuesday while they were conducting search operations for the missing prisoner.

“Today, we will retrieve what the K9 units detected,” Bautista said, adding that the body was not visible from the outside.

“No. You can’t see it because we think it had been chopped,” the BuCor official said.

Bautista also said that they were still confirming a tip from an inmate, that there is more than just one body inside the septic tank.

“We were able to trace this because of information from the PDLs that this was really a burial site,” Bautista said.

“There was information that this was a mass grave. So I concentrated there,” Bautista added.

A shooting incident involving members of Batang City Jail and Bahala Na Gang took place at the Quadrant 3 of the south area of the maximum security compound on Tuesday.

Nine prisoners were hurt in the melee while another inmate died due to knife wounds.