By Rey Panaligan
An additional 4,683 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) have been released from various jails in the country from April 30 to May 8 as a result of the video conferencing system of resolving pending criminal cases.
Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez said on Sunday (May 10) that more PDLs are expected to be released in the coming days as video conferencing is now in full swing in Metro Manila and key cities in the country.
Video conferencing is one of the measures adopted by the Supreme Court (SC) to expedite the resolution of cases in a move to decongest jails to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease.
Earlier, Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta said that from March 17, 2020 to April 29, 2020, a total of 9,731 PDLs have been released. Of those released during the period, 2,082 of them were in the National Capital Region, 4,657 in Luzon (outside of NCR), 1,072 in the Visayas, and 1,920 in Mindanao.
PDLs are persons detained in various jails in the country while their criminal cases are undergoing trial and awaiting decisions.
Marquez said that video conferencing is “in full swing in many cities including Baguio City up north, in Metro Manila, in Cebu in the Visayas, and some cities in Mindanao.”
“We expect a lot more courts to conduct hearings through video conferencing this coming week that may result in more releases of PDLs,” he added.