Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Acting Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. said on Thursday, Dec. 29, he will recommend to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. the grant of executive clemency to about 3,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in the bureau’s various detention facilities nationwide.
Catapang said he will send a letter to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla for his endorsement to the President of the bureau’s request for clemency to qualified PDLs.
Only the President can grant executive clemency which may either be reprieve, absolute pardon, conditional pardon with or without parole condition, or commutation of sentence.
Traditionally, executive clemencies are granted during special occasions like the birthday of the President or Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Meanwhile, BuCor has transferred 50 elderly inmates, all 70 years old and above, from the New Bilibid Prison’s Maximum Security Compound to the Minimum Security Compound which is better equipped and less congested.
“This will be the first move to decongest the Maximum. Initial yan 50 (The 50 is the initial) just to show we really want to decongest the Maximum prison compound,” Catapang said.
Incidentally, he said, the 50 elderly PDLs are among those recommended for executive clemency.
TAGS: #BuCor #Catapang #Executive Clemency