The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has released 286 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from its prison facilities in the country the past two weeks ending last June 15.
PDLs released were those who had been granted parole, had been acquitted of criminal charges, had served their sentence, and had qualified under the good conduct time allowance (GCTA), BuCor said in a statement.
“In line with the directive of (BuCor Director General) Undersecretary Gerald Q. Bantag to decongest the prison facilities under the Bureau of Corrections, the Inmate Documents and Processing Division, headed by CSInsp. Raul B Sinadjan Jr., was able to process a grand total of 286 PDL releases for the period covering June 1-15, 2021,” it said.
It said that among those released were 28 PDLs who had been granted parole, 77 who had been acquitted, 17 who had finished the maximum service of their sentence, 153 who had qualified under GCTA, and 11 “returnees.”
The “returnees” were those previously released due to their GCTA but returned to jail upon the orders of President Duterte who wanted to verify who among them were qualified to benefit from the GCTA Law.
BuCor records also showed that the most number of PDLs released came from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City with 180.
The other freed PDLs came from the Correctional institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City with 43, Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) with 35, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) with two, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) with 12, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SRPPF) with 11, and Leyte Regional Prison (LRP) with three.
The BuCor also disclosed that there are “111 PDLs who are due for release but whose prison records are under careful review and evaluation by the Pre-release Unit.”
“If there are no other legal cause for their further detention, release papers shall be processed for approval of the Director-General,” it said.