NBI: Bone found inside Bilibid septic tank from chicken, not human

The bone fragment found inside the New Bilibid Prison’s septic tank was not from a human but from a chicken, a member of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Medical Legal Team said Tuesday.

“We have one piece of bone and this is not of human origin... In all likelihood, through the process of comparison, it is consistent with chicken leg bone,” Dr. Annalyne Dadiz said at the Senate justice and human rights committee hearing held inside the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) compound in Muntinlupa City.

“We conducted the process of forensic identification [and] through this process we made use of elimination and comparison and we concluded that it is not of human origin,” she added.

Dadiz was part of the team that examined the bone fragment found inside the NBP’s septic tank.

Senator Francis Tolentino, who leads the investigation, noted that the bone fragment appeared big in the picture, but Dadiz said the photo was only "zoomed out."

“I think the photo, the one that is shown in the media, the one that you have, I think it is just zoomed out. But if you try to compare it with the actual size of a chicken leg bone, it is equal, consistent to a the chicken leg bone,” the NBI official said.

According to Dadiz, it is the only bone fragment that was found inside the septic tank of the national penitentiary.

In a press conference after the hearing, Tolentino said that while the NBI has already concluded that it is likely a chicken bone, the committee will still wait for the verification made by the forensic team of the University of the Philippines.

"Hintayin pa rin natin ‘yung validation ng UP forensics. Within a few days, lalabas na 'yon," Tolentino said.

"Hindi pa naman tapos e meron pang isang septic tank na bubuksan sila. Halos dalawa pa nga e. Yung isang septic tank ay inupuan din ng aso ng Coast Guard," he added.

Tolentino said he wants Philippine Coast Guard K9 dogs to do another round of inspection at NBP to check if there are human remains inside the septic tanks, which have yet to be opened.

He made the remark after relieved NBP Superintendent Angelina Bautista told Tolentino about the inconsistent results of the K9 inspection and the panel tests that were conducted on another septic tank, which was under a basketball court inside the NBP.

On August 3, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said a decapitated body was found inside NBP's septic tank after a person deprived of liberty (PDL), identified as Michael Cataroja, went missing in early July.

The following day, however, Remulla clarified that the department has no information yet on the identity of the supposed headless body found in the septic tank.

Tolentino had filed Senate Resolution 709 urging the Senate committee on justice and human rights to investigate the supposed remains found in the septic tank which, he said, “compromise the safety and security” of PDLs as well as the BuCor personnel.

The probe is also intended to “shed light on how these things happened within the BuCor without the people manning the same knowing anything about it,” according to Tolentino's resolution. —KBK/VBL, GMA Integrated News