Even while in detention, 53 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the Leyte Regional Prison (LRP) finished their senior high school education.
One of the high school graduates was a 63-year-old PDLs, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.
The DOJ said the 53 PDLs belonged to “Class Makatao” and “Class MakaDiyos.” They were awarded diplomas which certify their completion of the high school program.
Education is one of the programs adopted by the DOJ for inmates at the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) facilities as part of their reformation activities.
Meanwhile, the DOJ said a total of 377 PDLs was released by BuCor from its facilities for the month of July 2022. BuCor is an attached agency of DOJ.
It said that of those released 118 PDLs were paroled; 212, served their prison terms; 43, acquitted of their criminal charges; two granted probation; and two obtained dismissal of their cases.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla had said that BuCor prisons have been congested by 330 percent. Records showed that as of April 11, 2022, there were 48,991 PDLs in BuCor’s seven prison facilities.
One of the steps undertaken by Remulla to decongest BuCor’s jails was to digitize the carpeta, records of PDLs, for faster and easier use of agencies, like the Board of the Pardon and Parole, in determining who among the inmates are qualified for release.
“We are pushing for that double time,” Remulla said.