THE bone that was recovered from a septic tank of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City was likely from a chicken, a forensic expert from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Tuesday, August 8, 2023.
In a Senate committee on justice and human rights inquiry into the alleged discovery of mass graves at the septic tank of the NBP, NBI’s Medico-Legal Division member Dr. Annalyne Dadiz said they have conducted the process of elimination and comparison and concluded that the bone taken from the septic tank “is not of human origin.”
“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,” she said.
Dadiz said it seems big on photos only because it was zoomed “but if you try to compare it with the actual size of a chicken leg bone, it is equal, consistent to the chicken leg bone.”
Senator Francis Tolentino, who leads the investigation, was surprised by the NBI’s findings.
“Ha? Chicken leg?” he said.
Dadiz said they also retrieved a piece of underwear and a razor but they could not tell to whom it belonged.
She said the septic tank was totally emptied.
Another forensic team from the University of the Philippines is expected to release its examination findings on the bone within the week.
The Senate inquiry was launched following the reported retrieval from the septic tank of what Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla initially said was the decapitated body of a person deprived of liberty (PDL) named Michael Angelo Cataroja, who was reported missing since July 15.
The following day, Remulla retracted his statement, saying they have yet to identify the body found.
Remulla also said that it could be related to the so-called killing inside the facility before Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) Director Gerald Catapang took office in March.
Catapang replaced General Gerald Bantag, who is now facing murder charges over the death of veteran radio broadcaster Percy Lapid and Jun Villamor, the NBP inmate who allegedly facilitated the latter’s killing.
Catapang also earlier ordered an investigation amid several tips that some persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who were reported either as missing or have escaped in the past were actually buried in septic tanks.
During the hearing, Catapang said there is one more septic tank that needs to be opened and checked.
He expressed belief that Cataroja had escaped from the maximum security compound.
Former Bucor director Senator Ronald Dela Rosa and Senator Robin Padilla said this could indicate the “laxity” of security in the NBP facility.
Padilla said he could not believe that an inmate could escape from the maximum security compound, noting the overly tight security and the conduct of daily inspections in the chamber. (SunStar Philippines)