18-8-2023 (MANILA) The ongoing Senate inquiry into the alleged mass grave at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) has taken a new turn, with its attention now honed on the escape of the missing inmate from the national penitentiary.
Sen. Francis Tolentino, the head of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, unveiled this shift in focus through a statement released on Friday. Tolentino disclosed that the committee’s current trajectory aims to unearth the circumstances that enabled the individual deprived of liberty (PDL) to evade security and abscond from the maximum security compound of the NBP.
This decision comes on the heels of the recent re-apprehension of Michael Angelo Catarejo, a 25-year-old inmate who had been reported missing by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) over a month ago. Authorities successfully tracked Catarejo down in Angono, Rizal.
Senator Tolentino conveyed, “The upcoming hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights will delve into how Michael Cataroja escaped and any possible lapses of the Bureau of Corrections. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 22, 2023.”
Cataroja, serving a 12 to 20-year sentence for violations of the Anti-Fencing Act Law, was initially reported as missing on July 15. His re-capture occurred on Thursday, August 17.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. has initiated an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Cataroja’s escape from the NBP and is committed to identifying those who might be accountable.
The efforts to locate the escaped inmate included the deployment of sniffer dogs. These trained canines led authorities to a septic tank within the Bilibid premises, where a bone was discovered. Initial speculation arose that the bone might be human, but subsequent clarification confirmed it as likely belonging to a chicken leg.
In the course of the initial Senate hearing, a forensic expert from the National Bureau of Investigation provided insights to the Senate committee. The expert indicated that the bone found near the septic tank at NBP was not of human origin, but rather probably from a chicken leg.
