FORENSICS experts yesterday said that septic tanks at the New Bilibid Prisons do not contain human remains.
This was reported by Dr. Nestor Castro, of the University of the Philippines forensics, as the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights continued its hearing on the alleged mass grave discovered inside the NBP compound.
“Based on our findings, there is none,” Castro responded when asked by Sen. Francis Tolentino, panel chairman, about their investigation on the alleged mass graves.
During the hearing, Bureau of Corrections director Gregorio Catapang said there were actually eight septic tanks inside the NBP but only three were suspected to contain human remains based on the paneling earlier conducted by K-9 units of the Philippine Coast Guard.
He said the three septic tanks were interconnected, with waste waters from the first septic flowing to the second and the before flowing to the sewer lines going out of the NBP compound.
Sen. Robin Padilla said Catapang should let the UP forensics team examine the five remaining septic tanks to dispel talks that inmates have been buried in the septic tanks.
“That (mass graves) have been the subject of talks for a long time already. That septic tank brings chills so it is better if you will allow them to be examined further,” said Padilla, who was jailed at the national penitentiary in 1994 for illegal possession of firearms but was pardoned by then President Ramos in 1998.
Catapang said: “We will do that.”
Castro said their “overall findings” was that there were no human remains in the septic tank paneled by the K-9 unit of the Philippine Coast Guard.
“So, walang (there are no) human remains — whether bones or other human remains in one septic tank,” he added.
Castro also noted that the K9s could have not distinguished the smell of human remains since septic tanks contain methane, which is a combustible material that can be mistaken by dogs as explosives.
Coast Guard Lt. Senior Grade Mark Jefferson Mangoyob said the K9s used to panel the septic tanks were “cadaver dogs” trained to locate human beings during search and rescue operations.
He said the same dogs were used in the Bohol earthquake and a plane crash in Isabela, among other search and rescue operations.
Mangoyob said their dogs are accurate in searching for human beings.
Castro said they are not questioning the cadaver dogs “per se” but said the dogs could have easily determined if there were human remains in the NBP septic tank if the remains were still fresh.
“But a totally decomposed body in a septic tank is a different model because there are many organisms and chemicals in there,” Castro said.
Tolentino then asked how long will it take for a cadaver dog to still recognize human remains buried in a septic tank.
Dr. Richard Jonathan Taduran, a forensics anthropologist, said there is no study of that in the Philippines.
“That’s why we need a research facility for that, sir. Besides, this case is very unique because it is allegedly buried in a septic tank. There has been a similar case in the US where they suspected human remains buried in a septic tank, but the results turned out negative,” Taduran said in a mix of Filipino and English.
The DOJ suspected that the septic tanks in the NBP may have been used to bury inmates killed inside the penitentiary to hide evidence.
This was after Michael Cataroja, a convicted criminal, was reported missing last July 15. He was later recaptured in Angono, Rizal.
NBP officials examined the septic tanks and declared that Cataroja’s “decapitated body” was found there.
This prompted jail officials to suction out the contents of the septic where other supposed human remains and other stuff were found.
The alleged human bone was examined by the NBI forensics team, which later said that it was a chicken bone.
The DOJ later corrected itself, saying Remulla was fed the wrong information.
Cataroja, in yesterday’s hearing, said the prison guards did not inspect the underside of the garbage truck which he clung on to escape. His testimony ran counter to what the prison guards told the panel.
Tolentino said Cataroja may be telling the truth since Al Perreras, the BuCor deputy director general for administration who headed the Board of Inquiry, attested that the prison guards did not thoroughly examine the garbage truck as it headed out of the facility.
Perreras said this was based on the CCTV footage in the NBP.
Tolentino said Cataroja’s testimony can be believed after a polygraph test on the convict conducted by the NBI showed there was “no specific reactions indicative of deception.”
