
For good behavior during their detention, five inmates at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City were released last Friday, Nov. 19.
In a statement, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said the names of the five freed detainees “were removed from the list of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs).”
“Said women had already served their maximum sentence through Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) and were ready to start over after obtaining certificates of discharge signed by CIW's Superintendent, CSupt. Hylene C. Pancho, under a memorandum issued by BuCor Director General Gerald Q. Bantag,” BuCor said.
The GCTA law under Republic Act No. 10592 “allows for a reduction of sentences of persons deprived of liberty, depending on how well they abide by rules and regulations inside any penal institution, rehabilitation, or detention center or any other local jail.”
BuCor said that after the rapid antigen tests conducted on the five inmates came out negative, “they were given gratuities as transportation allowance and referral letters for job opportunities.”
C/CInsp.Raul B. Sinadjan Jr., chief of the BuCor’s Inmate Documents Processing Division (IDPD), had said that BuCor’s seven prison facilities nationwide had released a total of 3,695 PDLs as of last Oct. 29. About 2,000 of those freed benefitted from the GCTA law, he said.
Aside from CIW, the BuCor’s other prison facilities are the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF), Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) in Palawan, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SRPPF) in Zamboanga, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro, and the Leyte Regional Prison (LRP).