More PDLs granted parole in 2020 than in 2019 — DOJ

MANILA, Philippines–More persons deprived of liberty (PDL) have been given their freedom in 2020 compared to 2019 based on the data from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The numbers which were provided to the media by Justice Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar showed that from January to November 2020, there are 1, 333 PDLs who were granted parole while one received an absolute pardon.

Parole is the conditional release of an inmate from a correctional institution after serving the minimum period of prison sentence while an absolute pardon is the total extinction of the criminal liability of the individual to whom it is granted without any condition whatsoever resulting in the full restoration of his civil rights.

The number is 350 higher compared to the same figure in 2019 with only 984 granted parole while no one received an absolute pardon.

For the year 2020, it was US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton who was granted an absolute pardon. He was convicted in 2015 for the death of transwoman Jennifer Laude in 2014.

In 2019, four PDLs were given conditional pardon while none was given in 2020.

At the height of the strict community lockdown due to COVID-19, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in April signed Board of Pardon and Parole (BPP) Resolution No. OT-04-15-2020 on the Interim Rules on Parole and Executive Clemency.

The BPP’s Interim Rules on Parole and Executive Clemency’s main objective is to expedite the processing of release of inmates through parole or executive clemency.

Covered by the interim rules are PDLs over 65 years old who have served at least five years of their sentence, or of those whose continued imprisonment is inimical to their health as certified by a physician certified by the Department of Health (DOH) or designated by the Malacanang Clinic Director.

Those convicted of heinous crimes of illegal drug offenses are not covered.

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/MUF