The largest prison in the Philippines is holding a mass grave for 70 inmates
.jpeg "The largest prison in the Philippines is holding a mass grave for 70 inmates")
The gruesome discovery of his body by police is the latest scandal for the troubled Bureau of Corrections, which runs the state's overcrowded prison system.
The bodies of 70 inmates from the Philippines' largest prison have been given a mass grave a week after their bodies were found in a Manila funeral home.
This is among 176 bodies found by the police during an investigation into the death of a prisoner linked to the murder of a journalist in early October.
Most of the deaths were from "natural causes," said Cecilia Villanueva, executive director of the Bureau of Corrections' Health and Human Services.
Vilanueva said that of the 140 bodies buried so far, 127 were badly injured and could not be exhumed.
The corpses started piling up at the funeral home in December 2021 when most families did not insist that they were not poor.
Vilanueva blamed a "ban" on correctional officers for preventing inmates from receiving timely burials.
The body is usually kept at an accredited funeral home for three months to give relatives time to find it.
Vilanueva told reporters that Friday's mass funeral was the largest ever held by the Bureau of Corrections.
Minimum security prisoners carry 70 plywood coffins to their final resting place - a cheap concrete grave in a cemetery inside the prison complex.
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The gruesome discovery at the funeral home is the latest scandal to rock the troubled Bureau of Corrections, which runs an overcrowded prison system.
The gruesome discovery at the funeral home is the latest scandal to rock the troubled Bureau of Corrections, which runs an overcrowded prison system.
His boss, Gerald Bantag, is accused of ordering the killing of radio broadcaster Percival Mabasa, as well as inmate Cristo Villamor Palana, who is said to have given orders to the gunmen.
After Bantag was removed as director general, a large hole was found next to his former official residence inside the prison complex.
Bantag claimed it was made for scuba diving, not an escape tunnel for prisoners.
The eight bodies left at the funeral home will be re-examined by Raquel Fortun, one of the nation's two forensic pathologists.
Villanueva said an average of one or two inmates die every day at the 6,435-person facility at the New Bilibid prison, which holds about 29,000 inmates.
.jpeg "The largest prison in the Philippines is holding a mass grave for 70 inmates")
There are only five doctors available to treat prisoners, but the Bureau of Corrections wants to hire more.
"We are doing our best, we are trying to provide healthcare the same way that healthcare is provided to the population, but there are many limitations," said Villanueva.
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