MANILA, Philippines – Where is Michael Cataroja, the detainee of the New Bilibid Prison reported missing since July 15? The simple answer is that authorities do not know.

This was revealed Thursday, August 3, during an inquiry by the House of Representatives into Cataroja’s disappearance in response to a resolution filed by freshman lawmaker Erwin Tulfo.

Even Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Boying Remulla admitted he got the wrong information when he said on July 26 that Cataroja’s body had already been found inside a septic tank.

“I was the victim of ‘fake news’ that the remains had been found, that he was decapitated. That’s the first information I received,” Remulla told lawmakers.

It was unclear where he got the information, but Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officials denied they provided Remulla with the erroneous information.

BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said that Cataroja would remain listed as “missing” until the agency has exhausted search efforts in the Bilibid compound.

“Once we have opened all septic tanks and we cannot find him, that’s when we will declare that he has escaped,” Catapang said.

Cataroja went missing on July 15, according to BuCor Deputy Director for Operations Angelina Bautista.

The agency eventually sought the assistance of the Coast Guard, which conducted paneling inspection from July 21 to 25.

Coast Guard officers tapped dogs of their K-9 unit to sniff Cataroja’s clothes. The K-9s led the team to the septic tank.

Bautista, however, said that only a bone and a piece of underwear were found in the septic tank.

A National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officer who was the forensics strike team leader during the search said the bone reovered was not consistent with human remains, but she did not rule out the possibility that the underwear belonged to Cataroja.

Misamis Oriental 2nd District Representative Yevgeny Emano asked: why was BuCor taking so long to open all the septic tanks?

“We are talking about the size of the maximum compound. There are 2,000 PDLs that you need to relocate every time you want to excavate a septic tank,” Bautista said.

“Give me one month, until end of August, to confirm whether or not he is in one of the septic tanks,” Catapang told lawmakers. – Rappler.com