For almost seven months ending last July 22, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) had released 4,461 qualified persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from its prison facilities nationwide.
Those freed had either served their prison terms, acquitted of their criminal charges, pardoned or paroled, or released for good conduct under the law on Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA).
As of April 11, 2022, there were 48,991 PDLs in BuCor’s even prison and penal farms – New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SRPPF) in Zamboanga City, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) in Palawan, Leyte Regional Prison (LRP) in Abuyog town in Leyte, Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) in Davao del Norte.
BuCor Deputy Director General Gabriel P. Chaclag on Thursday, Aug. 4, said that included in the number of those released were 1,640 PDLs freed last June and July.
In 2021, a total of 4,610 qualified PDLs were released by BuCor.
Chaclag said BuCor has been expeditiously releasing qualified PDLs to decongest its prison facilities, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been doing everything to resolve the 330 percent congestion in BuCor’s prison facilities.
Remulla said that one of the measures is the fast tracking of the digitization of a single system for the carpetas or prison records of PDLs.
“We are pushing for that double time,” he said.
He lamented that carpetas remain to be written manually and have yet to be fully digitized and made available online for government agencies in need of the prison records.
Aside from other government agencies, prisoners’ records are needed by the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) and the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) to see what can be done to speed up the releasing of inmates.
“Sila talaga ang pwede mag-release ng maraming tao (They have the ability to release more people),” he explained.
“It’s a new way of doing things, make everything more visible for the BPP and PPA. Mas marami talagang mapa process (More carpetas can be processed for release),” he said.