A total of 232 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City have been found eligible for executive clemency.
Executive clemency refers to reprieve (suspension of prison sentence), absolute pardon, conditional pardon with or without conditions, and commutation of sentence. It is granted only by the President.
In a statement, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said that of the 232 PDLs eligible for executive clemency, 150 of them are elderly who had been interviewed by the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) last Dec. 2.
BuCor said BPP Deputy Chairperson Natividad D. Dizon, a retired judge, led the interview of the PDLs.
It said that Deputy Chairperson Dizon “assured to assist those PDLs who are eligible for an early release, provided that they are qualified for parole and subject to a recommendation for executive clemency and do their part to acquire GCTA (good conduct time allowance) credits.”
It said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had approved the BPP’s resolution that “widens the coverage and reduces some requirements when applying for parole and clemency.”
The resolution “prioritizes PDLs who are considered ‘vulnerable,’ such as the elderly, sickly, or suffering from terminal or life-threatening illnesses with severe disability,” it also said.
It added that the BPP can “grant parole or early release to a PDL who has served the minimum period of their indeterminate sentence.”
TAGS: #BPP #BuCor #PDLs #Executive Clemency