Reforms to correction system a 'cornerstone' of Marcos Jr. admin — Remulla
MANILA, Philippines — Reforms to the correctional system form part of the “cornerstones” of the Marcos Jr. administration, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on the sidelines of the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Remulla told the panel that the government is well-aware of the problems plaguing the Philippine prison system, including perennial overcrowding. But the DOJ chief pointed out that this is a problem due to systemic issues of the criminal justice system that the department wishes to address.
“The approach of our new administration is a whole-nation, all government solution to every step of the criminal justice process,” he added.
Among the steps the DOJ has taken is digitizing prisoner records that allows a review of the Good Conduct Time Allowance of the inmates and their subsequent release. More lawyers have also been deployed to review status of Persons Deprived of Liberty and there have been humanitarian release of inmates.
“For those newly freed individuals, we have expanded our rehabilitation efforts to include but not limited [to] values formation, mental health support mechanisms, and livelihood training programs,” Remulla said.
The GCTA allows time reduction for good behavior of inmates. But in 2019, this fetched controversies as it was reported that murderer-rapist Antonio Sanchez was due to release after benefiting from the GCTA. This prompted the DOJ, under then-Secretary Menardo Guevarra, to release a Revised Implementing Rules and Regulation that excluded heinous crimes convicts to benefit from the law.
EXPLAINER: Good law, bad man: RA 10592 and rape-slay convict Antonio Sanchez
Reforms for prosecution
The DOJ chief also pointed out that there is huge gap between the threshold of “proof beyond reasonable doubt” for conviction after trial and the “low threshold of mere ‘probable cause’” for indictment, which causes low conviction rate and large number of indictments.
Remulla said the department will soon release the new case build-up rule, where the threshold for indictment will be increased to prima facie, “or that satisfies a reasonable certainty of conviction.” Prosecution will also coordinate with law enforcement agencies in case build-up.
“It is a paradigm shift that will mean the filing of cases where there is a certainty of conviction and punishment of those charged in court,” he said.
“Apart from this consequence, the new rule will also ensure that there will not be any frivolous cases of harassment suits against our innocent citizens. No longer shall our penal code be used, abused or weaponized,” Remulla continued.
Activists and their lawyers however have long raised the weaponization of the law against dissenters, as they pointed out how illegal possession of firearms and of explosives have been used to lock them up behind bars.
READ: Firearms and explosives raps easy way to lock activists up, NUPL says
Following this, the DOJ also released guidelines for prosecutors in setting up bail for accused who are indigents. Under the new rules, prosecutors shall recommend bails at least 50% lower that the earlier department rules on bail, or P10,000, whichever is lower, for indigent respondents.
This shall result in decongestion of court dockets and reduction of overcrowding in correctional facilities, he added.
Remulla also said he directed prosecutors to assess their cases before Municipal Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in Cities and Metropolitan Trial Courts whether there is reasonable certainty of conviction. “Otherwise, they are to cause or move for their dismissal,” he said.
Prison reforms
Remulla also listed prison reforms they aim to implement such as building facilities that will house heinous crimes convicts and transfer of New Bilibid Prison, including the Bureau of Corrections headquarters and the Correctional Institute for Women.
While Remulla did not expound the planned transfer of BuCor headquarters, the bureau has confirmed that they intend to relocate to a parcel of land within Masungi Georeserve, an award-winning ecotourism site and conservation initiative in Rizal province.
READ: What we know so far: BuCor's plan to relocate its headquarters to Masungi
BuCor’s plans to relocate its headquarters and training institute within Masungi drew criticisms and raised concerns that the move will damage the fragile Upper Marikina watershed, parts of which are being protected by the Masungi Georeserve Foundation for decades.
Other prison reforms that Remulla shared are regionalization of prison facilities and implementation of Probation Information System where data on probationers and parolees will be digitalized.
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