Doubts over Philippine drug lords’ deaths from coronavirus while in prison fuel calls for investigation

Senate president wants a probe into the deaths of high-profile prisoners including Jaybee Sebastian, a witness against opposition leader Leila De Lima

Bodies were cremated without autopsies, fuelling rumours the dead men may have been ‘resurrected’ in the outside world with new identities

Reading Time:3 minutes

New Bilibid Prison in the Philippines. Photo: Robert Ng

Published: 9:15am, 21 Jul 2020Updated: 11:30pm, 21 Jul 2020

The president of the Philippine senate has called for an investigation into the reported deaths of at least nine high-profile jail inmates, some of them drug lords, amid claims they may not have died but instead escaped custody.

The inmates, who were all reported to have died because of Covid-19, were mostly drug lords confined at the maximum security New Bilibid Prison. They included a key witness against the detained opposition senator Leila De Lima.

The circumstances of the deaths, with remains being cremated without autopsies, have fuelled claims on social media of foul play. The prison has been hit by numerous scandals in which powerful prisoners, with the help of corrupt officials, continue to run crime syndicates from jail.

Detained Philippine Senator Leila De Lima. Photo: EPA

According to a death certificate obtained by CNN Philippines, the witness against De Lima, 40-year-old Jaybee Sebastian, died on Saturday of “acute myocardial infarction” and his body was immediately cremated. The news network reported his heart condition was linked to Covid-19. Several publications ran a photo of a clear box containing a plastic bag of Sebastian’s ashes.

“There are compelling reasons” to investigate, Senator Vicente Sotto III told the South China Morning Post on Monday. “For one, why no autopsies? Were the relatives informed? What do the death certificates say? Many other unanswered questions.”