FORENSIC pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun said on Saturday that more than half of the 120 cadavers of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) left unclaimed at a Bureau of Corrections (BuCor)-accredited funeral and due for pathological examination at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) were already mummified because of neglect.
'I saw about 50 remains; these are the most recent ones that died, and somehow they are still suitable for examination. Only 50. I was shown around 120-plus as described earlier, but these are all mummified remains, very dry, and I doubt if we could still see something there,' Fortun told reporters following her inspection of the corpses.
BODY IN A BOX Bureau of Corrections personnel take a body at a funeral parlor in Muntinlupa City on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, following his family’s request that his remains be sent to Bacolod City. Dr. Raquel Fortun, forensic pathologist, laments the bodies that are left unclaimed, saying that of the 120 she was asked to look at, only 50 were fit for examination. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN
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