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168 PDLs acquitted by courts of criminal charges, 397 others released by BuCor

Philippines | National

168 PDLs acquitted by courts of criminal charges, 397 others released by BuCor

By Jeffrey Damicog

Bureau of Corrections

A total of 168 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who had been acquitted of their criminal charges by the courts had been released by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

Most of those acquitted were through hearings via video conferencing that has been ordered by the Supreme Court for use by trial courts, even appellate courts, since May 2020 at the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The 168 freed PDLs were part of the 565 prisoners released by Bucor from June 1 to June 30 this year.

“The Bureau headed by its Director-General Gerald Q. Bantag, uphold to implement such court orders without delay,” BuCor said in a statement.

It said that acquittals are “always based on the merits, that is, the defendant is acquitted because the evidence does not show that defendant's guilt is beyond reasonable doubt.”

Of those released aside from those acquitted by the courts, BuCor said “67 PDLs had been granted parole, 67 were released upon serving the maximum service of their sentence, 209 releases were upon serving the maximum service of their sentence with the application of earned Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) pursuant to RA 10592, 51 were returnees who qualified for the benefits of the GCTA Law, while 2 upon bail bond and 1 upon probation.”

The returnees were those previously released under GCTA but were ordered re-jailed by President Duterte for further verification of the GCTA credits.

BuCor records showed last June the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City released 320 inmates; the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, 73; Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF), 107; Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF), two; Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF), 14; San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SRPPF), 31; and Leyte Regional Prison (LRP), 14.

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