E-Undas back at ‘haunted’ Bilibid, other BuCor sites
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has revived its e-Undas program to allow persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) to virtually reconnect with their families on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, even as the agency moves closer to shutting down the “haunted” New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa by 2028.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said the e-Undas initiative, which lets inmates hold video calls with relatives, is now running in all BuCor facilities nationwide. Families may coordinate with the bureau via email to schedule calls between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2.
All Souls’ Day Masses
“Two or three days before Undas, they can already set their schedules through e-Dalaw,” Catapang said in an interview on “Kabayan sa TeleRadyo Serbisyo.” “Families may contact us through email to set their preferred time.’’
All BuCor facilities will also hold Masses on All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2, including one at the NBP cemetery where inmates who died during the COVID-19 pandemic were buried.
“We are also authorized to light candles until 10 p.m.,” Catapang said. “It’s part of our way to honor the departed and lift the morale of PDLs who can’t be with their families.”
He said ghost stories are common inside the penitentiary, particularly in the so-called White House, a structure within the NBP compound where senior officers stay.
According to Catapang, lights inside the building are never turned off because of reported apparitions. “That’s why we never turn off the lights—they say ghosts come out when it’s dark,” he said.
‘White house’ in Bilibid
Catapang recalled that even a priest who once visited the White House told him there were “many souls” still dwelling there. “The priest told me, ‘Sir, I can’t handle this alone. I need two more priests to help pacify the souls here,’” he said.
Several staff members, Catapang added, have also refused to stay overnight in the building after hearing footsteps or seeing ghostly figures while on duty. One staffer reportedly woke up to find “a ghost staring at him” after switching off the lights.
While he shared the spine-chilling tales in a lighthearted tone, such accounts have long been part of the lore surrounding NBP, one of the country’s oldest and most overcrowded penitentiaries.
