70 unclaimed cadavers of PDLs buried at NBP, total buried at 140

Seventy more unclaimed cadavers of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) on Friday morning were buried at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) cemetery.

So far, a total of 140 PDLs out of the 176 bodies that were left at the Eastern Funeral Homes, the solely accredited funeral home of the Bureau of Corrections, have been buried.

LOOK: The unclaimed cadavers of inmates that are set to be buried at the NBP cemetery this Friday morning @gmanews pic.twitter.com/Vr8bN50iXj

— Joahna Lei Casilao (@joahnacasilao) December 1, 2022

A funeral Mass was held before the burial, where seats usually occupied by family members and loved ones were left mostly empty.

“Masakit po sa dibdib na ihatid sila lalo na’t iniisip natin na nakalimutan sila. Hindi man sinasadya ng kanilang mga kamag anak,” Director Ma. Cecilia Villanueva of the Health and Welfare Services said during the Mass.

(It’s difficult to bury them because we can’t help but think that they have been forgotten. Maybe not on purpose by their families.)

“Pero po katulad ko po, matagal na po ako sa BuCor, 32 years na po, siguro po one time or another these PDL have seen me, have consulted or have mingled with me. So sila po ay tinuturing ko na na kapamilya. ‘Pag po may namamatay sa pamilya natin, mabigat sa dibdib,” she added.

(But like me, I’ve been at BuCor for 32 years, and at one time or another, these PDLs have seen me, have consulted, or have mingled with me. So I am treating them as my family. If someone in our family passes away, we feel sad.)

After the Mass, the coffins were carried to apartment tombs by PDLs from the minimum security compound.

No family members of the PDLs were present for the burial.

“Ngayon po itong mga nilibing natin ‘yung deaths natin hanggang August and the relatives were informed,” Villanueva said in an ambush interview.

(The bodies we buried were up until August and the relatives were informed.)

“’Yun nga po kaya lang nga unclaimed na talaga sila, hindi na nagpunta yung relatives, or there some relatives who came but only to take their death certificate,” she added.

(However, they are really unclaimed already, the relatives did not come, or if the relatives came it was only to take their death certificate.)

According to Villanueva, one Japanese national was also among those buried.

“The family was informed but they were no longer interested to claim the body so the embassy has a written request na isama na rin siya sa mass burial. And included siya today,” she said.

(The family was informed but they were no longer interested to claim the body so the embassy has a written request to include him in the burial. He is included.)

Meanwhile, she said there are 36 bodies left at the Eastern Funeral Homes as some of the 176 bodies have been claimed by the family.

“Pero may ibang na-claim na kasi because of the ‘yung ano natin— maraming nagke-claim ngayon… oo, due to the information nung paglilibing natin, medyo mas maraming nagke-claim ngayon na mga bodies.

(But some have been claimed because of the— a lot of people are claiming the bodies right now… due to information about the burials. So there’s somewhat a lot of people claiming the bodies right now.)

Asked how many of the 176 have been claimed, Villanueva said she could not give the exact number but affirmed that it was more than ten. — RSJ, GMA Integrated  News