A total of 3,624 drug offenders were released from different Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facilities nationwide in the second quarter of 2018.
The release was made possible through the Supreme Court-mandated plea bargaining agreement framework.
“While we fully support the efforts of the national government on anti-illegal drugs, we are only acting on the orders of the court and as a result, we have this numbers released from our care,” BJMP Chief Jail Director Deogracias Tapayan said in a statement on Monday.
However, the BJMP clarified that inmates — or as they prefer, persons deprived of liberty (PDL) — are released only if they are caught with “very small quantities of shabu, marijuana, and other illegal drugs allowed under the new SC ruling.”
The agency also said that every case is subject to court review and approval.
“Under the simplified plea bargaining framework, the accused and the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a mutually reasonable disposition of the case subject to court approval,” BJMP said.
According to the SC framework, violators of Section 11 of R.A. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 where the quantity of shabu, opium, morphine, heroin, and cocaine is five grams, and 300 grams for marijuana, can opt to plea bargain to a violation of Section 12 instead.
Compared to violating Section 11, the penalties for violating Section 12 are much lighter, in terms of years in prison and fines.
READ: SC issues guide to plea bargaining in drug cases
BJMP said that of all the regional offices which released PDLs, the most number came from NCR, with 821, followed by Region 3 (671) and Region 4-A (618). /ee
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