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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider More PDLs granted pardon, parole in 2020 compared to 2019

More PDLs granted pardon, parole in 2020 compared to 2019

Published Jan 1, 2021 09:42 am

There have been more persons deprived of liberty (PDL) who were granted liberty in 2020 compared to 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on Friday, Jan. 1.

Department of Justice (DoJ) (MANILA BULLETIN)

DOJ Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar presented DOJ records which showed that from January to November 2020 there have been a total of 1,334 PDLs who were pardoned and granted parole.

This is much higher to the 988 PDLs who were pardoned and granted parole in 2019.

DOJ records showed that there was one PDL who was granted absolute pardon and 1,333 who received parole.

It can be recalled that President Duterte gave absolute pardon in September last year to United States Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton who was convicted in 2015 for homicide in the 2014 killing of transgender Jennifer Laude.

In 2019, the DOJ records indicated that there were four PDLs who were given conditional pardon and 984 PDLs who were granted parole.

There was no one who was given absolute pardon in 2019.

Amid clamor to release PDLs due to the threat of the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra approved and signed on April 15 last year the Board of Pardon and Parole (BPP) Resolution No. OT-04-15-2020 on the Interim Rules on Parole and Executive Clemency.

The BPP’s Interim Rules on Parole and Executive Clemency, which took effect last May 15, stated that it is meant “to expedite the existing process of release of PDLs through parole or executive clemency.”

The interim rules provide that PDLs who are eligible for parole or executive clemency review shall be covered by the interim rules.

Those covered under the interim rules are PDLs over 65 years old who have served at least five years of their sentence, or of those whose continued imprisonment is inimical to their health as certified by a physician certified the Department of Health (DOH) or designated by the Malacanang Clinic Director.

“In the processing of parole or executive clemency review, priority shall be given to PDLs who are already of old age, sickly or are suffering from terminal or life-threatening illnesses, or with serious disability,” read the interim rules.

However, it states that “PDLs who have been convicted of Heinous Crimes or Illegal Drugs-related offenses, or are otherwise classified by the Bureau of Corrections as ‘high-risk’, shall not be covered by the Interim Rules.”

The interim rules dispenses with most of the documentary requirements for applications for parole and executive clemency, except for the Court Certifications of No Pending Case and No Pending Appeal and a check on the records of the PDL at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

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