Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Gregorio Catapang Jr. said he will be implementing a technology-driven security system for the New Bilibid Prison.
Catapang made the announcement as a forensic pathologist likened the pileup of unclaimed cadavers of Bilibid inmates at a funeral parlor in Muntinlupa City to a “mass disaster.”
Catapang said high-tech equipment such as facial recognition will be used to “guard the guardians” at NBP.
“Similar to the command center of the AFP so I can see on the screen everyone who is on duty — who is on duty in quarter one, in quarter two, quarter three, and quarter four,” he said.
“And once operational, the inmates will also undergo the facial recognition machine then they will be accounted for,” Catapang added.
Catapang confirmed the bureau already has a list of personnel involved in contraband entry into the Bilibid.
Some 12,000 contraband items were seized from the NBP earlier this month.
The illegal items include cellular phones, laptops, illegal drugs, and some 7,500 cans of beer.
The BuCor is also investigating an alleged tunnel at the Director’s Quarters of the NBP.
The tunnel was dug below the swimming pool.
“Escape route? I’m not saying it’s possible. We will have to find out. At the very least, it was illegal quarrying,” Catapang said.
Catapang has asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for help in the investigation.
As this developed, Dr. Raquel Fortun said she is set to conduct an autopsy on the deceased NBP inmates this week.
“The biggest challenge here is how do you manage [the] dead, and you can liken this to a mass disaster,” she said in a television interview.
During her Saturday visit to Eastern Funeral Services, Fortun found that some 120 cadavers were already “mummified” while about 50 cadavers, including recent deaths, are still suitable for examination.
“The internal examination of the mummified remains could be very difficult,” she said.
“A full autopsy, I believe, would still be possible, especially in the recent deaths. Some of them can still be examined,” she added.