Is NBP septic tank a dumping area for dead inmates? Erwin Tulfo wants to know
ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Is the septic tank at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City a dumping area for bodies of dead inmates? House Resolution (HR) No.1136, filed by ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo Wednesday, July 26, seeks to shed light on this disturbing possibility. According to HR No.1136, a 25-year-old inmate, Michael Cataroja had been found dead in the septic tank of Dormitory 8, Quadrant B, withing the NBP's maximum security compound. Cataroja, who had been convicted for violation of the Anti-Fencing Law, was previously reported missing last June 15 by NBP officials. "But according to my source first week of June pa siya nawawala (he has been messing since the first week of June)...today is the 26th, yesterday they're saying na nakita na nila na nasa loob ng septic tank (they've found him inside the septic tank)," Tulfo said in a media briefing inside his office Wednesday afternoon. "And then marami pa daw umano ang bangkay doon sa loob ng septic tank dahil allegedly noong panahon ni nanaman, kay General [Gerald] Bantag, madami raw namamatay, napatay, at doon lang tinatapon," he said. (There are allegedly more corpses inside the septic tank because, allegedly, a lot of people died, or were killed during the time of General Bantag and they were being disposed there.) Bantag is the former chief of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), which oversees the NBP. The maximum security compound is supposed to be the place within the national penitentiary where the most hardened and top-level criminals are detained. "For this reason...I filed a resolution na magkaroon ng investigation po sa nangyayari sa loob ng NBP (I filed a resolution calling for an investigation on what is happening inside NBP)," he said. Tulfo said his source was also detainee at NBP.
ACT-CIS Party-list Reps Jocelyn Tulfo and Edvic Yap also took part in the filing of HR No.1136.