MANILA, Philippines — Deaths among Bureau of Corrections inmates this year, amid a pandemic, is “not substantially higher” when compared to the previous year, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.
In a pre-SONA forum on Wednesday, Guevarra said that Bureau of Corrections officials said that the average daily fatality count in the penitentiaries around the country is two to three persons dying every day.
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"So the figure they cited, 476 deaths from January to July 19 in all penitentiaries and penal farms all over the country, if you average that... it would appear something like 2.3 on the average daily," he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
"We can say that it is not substantially higher than the daily average during the past year," Guevarra said, noting that the slight increase is due to COVID-19.
The Bureau of Corrections said 21 Persons Deprived of Liberty died due to the deadly coronavirus. Of these 18 are from the New Bilibid Prison and three from the Correctional Institution for Women.
Nine of them are deemed high-profile inmates, including convict Jaybee Sebastian, allegdly a drug lord inside the Bilibid and “star witness” in case against Sen. Leila de Lima.
Doubts swirled around circumstances of the deaths of these high-profile inmates, prompting Guevarra to summon BuCor officials to his office on Monday.
During the meeting, the justice chief noted that BuCor protocols on deaths seem “inadequate” and assured that they will discuss it further in next discussions with the bureau’s officials.
One of the protocols is when an inmate dies due to COVID-19, the conduct “mandatory cremation of the cadaver within 12 hours to prevent further spread of infection.” The DOJ chief did not elaborate on the protocols he found lacking.
Guevarra, on Monday, also directed the National Bureau of Investigation to launch a full investigation into the deaths of the high-profile inmates, why senators pushed for a legislative inquiry into the matter.