The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday, Sept. 6, said it will recommend to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. the grant of executive clemency to about 300 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in the prison facilities of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
“There are about 300 of them who are up for executive clemency and this will come from the BPP (Board of Pardons and Parole),” DOJ Spokesperson Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV told journalists.
Clavano said that DOJ Undersecretary Deo L. Marco, who is also a member of the BPP, is preparing the list.
“We will submit the list hopefully by Thursday afternoon or Friday morning to the OP (Office of the President) and OES (Office of the Executive Secretary),” he said.
The President will hopefully sign the grant of executive clemency on his birthday on Sept. 13.
Executive clemency refers to “reprieve, absolute pardon, conditional pardon with or without parole conditions, and commutation of sentence granted by the President.”
The list for executive clemency includes those the DOJ has examined and verified to be qualified.
“It’s purely up to the OP and the OES to choose kung sino doon sa mga qualified ang mabibigyan ng executive clemency (who should be qualified to be given executive clemency),” Clavano pointed out.
The grant of executive clemency for those qualified PDLs would also help in the decongestion of BuCor’s prison facilities.
“We are again at 330 percent congestion rate sa NBP (New Bilibid Prison) and we are hoping that these 300 will at least contribute to the decongestion of the NBP,” he said.