371 ‘deserving’ inmates freed from BuCor jail facilities

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Public Attorneys’ Office (PAO) Chief Persida Rueda Acosta at the New Bilibid Prison to witness the release of over 300 inmates. Photo: JUCRA pool

MANILA, Philippines — Over 300 inmates or persons deprived of liberty (PDL) have been simultaneously released on Tuesday from several penal facilities under the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

BuCor Director Gerald Bantag said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla pushed the bureau to facilitate the immediate release of already deserving inmates.

“Masigasig sya na nagmamando sa amin na gawin ang dapat so napabilis natin yung proseso at yung mga tao kumilos kaya dumami,” Bantag said.

(He was very enthusiastic that he pushed us all to work fast, and we did. This is why the number of released PDLs has increased.)

Of the 371 released inmates, 191 were from the New Bilibid Prison, 37 from the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, 45 from the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte, 31 from Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, 30 from the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, 18 from Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, 19 from San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City.

The biggest chunk of the 371 or the 240 inmates released have served their maximum jail terms, 31 have been acquitted while 98 were given parole, and two are under probation.

Remulla said this would not be the last of batches of deserving inmates who will be given a new lease on life.

“There will be more,” he told reporters, adding that he is hoping that there will be another batch to be released in the next few months.

The Department of Justice,  which supervises BuCor, wants to decongest the country’s penal facility in Muntinlupa. To date, Remulla said it has around 300% percent decongestion rate.

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JPV