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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 5 legislations eyed to decongest prison facilities -- DOJ

5 legislations eyed to decongest prison facilities -- DOJ

Published Dec 1, 2023 07:05 am

The Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) will ask President Marcos to certify as priority legislations at least five bills that would be filed in Congress to improve the country's prison system.

“‘Yun po ang hihingin natin kay President na sana maging priority bills at ‘yun din po ang ilalapit natin sa Kongreso (These we will ask the President and Congress to make the proposed legislations as priority bills),” said Department of Justice (DOJ) Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV during a press briefing in Malacanang on Friday, Dec. 1.

Among these proposed legislations are on diversion of adult offenders, unified penology act, creation of the Department of Corrections and Penology; law on re-integration and psychosocial rehabilitation, and amendment to the Recognizance Act of 2012.

Clavano, however, did not give details on the proposed legislations.

He merely said the JSCC -- composed of the Supreme Court, the DOJ, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government -- will push the bills after the National Jail Decongestion Summit that will be held on Dec. 6 and 7 in Manila.

Referring to the summit, Clavano said: “It’s the first of it’s kind. I would consider this a legacy building event kasi eto ‘yung pinaka-unang pagkakataon na nagsama-sama ‘yung mga actors sa justice sector (because this is the first time actors in the justice sector would join together), Supreme Court, DOJ and DILG in really addressing this very pressing issue. Only this administration ventured to solve this problem of ours."

He said the strategy of the JSCC in decongesting prisons has been to increase the number of facilities, reduce the admission of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), and raise the number individuals who are qualified for release. 

“Under the National Building Code, the requirement is about 4.8 square meters per PDL which is very far from what we are seeing now in the jails,” he lamented.

He said that the facilities of both the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) have an average congestion rate of almost 400 percent.

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