DOJ: PDLs who die in Bilibid to undergo immediate autopsy

All Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) who will pass away inside the New Bilibid Prison will now immediately undergo autopsy, according to a 24 Oras report by Saleema Refran on Thursday.

This decision of the Department of Justice followed after several bodies of PDLs were discovered piled up inside a funeral home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is therefore the obligation of the state to ensure that these deaths are prevented or otherwise identify any wrongdoing or malfeasance that may have occurred and see to it that justice is served,” said DOJ Undersecretary Deo Marco.

The autopsies of the deceased inmates will be conducted by the University of the Philippines Manila.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime will also provide equipment and technology to assist with the government’s efforts.

“This project is designed to bring the resources available from a forensic perspective [to] the Philippines,” said UNODC Southeast Asia Representative Masood Karimipour.

Meanwhile, initial autopsy results released by University of the Philippines Manila indicated a many of the deaths were caused by tuberculosis.

“Hindi lang foul play ang hinahanap natin. (We aren’t just looking for foul play) Are there preventable deaths among these? We are seeing a lot of tuberculosis, and that is very telling in jail. If there is tuberculosis among the PDLs, your workers are just as exposed. And we are seeing malignancies and it’s awful because they are late stage malignancies,” said UP Manila Forensic Pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun.

Based on data from the Bureau of Corrections, there had been 4,636 recorded PDL deaths nationwide.
—Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News