Bureau of Corrections. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Approximately 11,347 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) have been released from various operating prisons and penal farms nationwide from June 2022 to January this year, according to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
In a statement on Sunday, BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. reported that these inmates were released under the “Bilis Laya” Program.
He added that the program also aligns with their ongoing efforts to decongest the maximum security compound since data showed that the agency releases about 5,327 inmates and admits an average of 7,823.
For January alone, Catapang reported that about 632 PDLs were released from the confinement bureau, which is about 11.4 percent higher than the 20-month average releases of 567 PDLs.
READ: BuCor sends 500 inmates from Muntinlupa to Iwahig penal farm
Moreover, he said the BuCor has already forwarded “36,044 PDL Prison Records to the Board of Pardons and Parole for evaluation, deliberation, and resolution under DOJ Memorandum dated September 2023.”
Aside from releasing inmates, the bureau transported 459 inmates to Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, on Saturday night to address the overcrowding problem in the New Bilibid Prison.
Catapang said this brings the total number of PDLs transferred to other operating prisons and penal farms of the agency since January to 1,254.