31 inmates ordered released from 'Gapo jail

A total of 31 inmates from the Olongapo District Jail in Camp Cabal, Olongapo City were ordered provisionally released recently as a result of the “Enhanced Justice on Wheels Program and the Increasing Access to Justice by the Poor Program” launched in Olongapo City, the Supreme Court said in a statement yesterday.

The provisional release of the 31 inmates was made on Oct. 20, the High Court said.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno led the launching of the “EJOW Program” in Olongapo City.

For its components, the “EJOW Program” has court hearings in the JOW bus for docket and jail decongestion, mobile court-annexed mediation, and legal aid clinic assisted by the members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Zambales Chapter, the Supreme Court said.

The EJOW also has for its components medical and dental mission for inmates; information dissemination by professors from the Philippine Judicial Academy on the rights of the poor and marginalized sectors; and dialogue with judges on how to increase access to justice by the poor.

Some 234 inmates were given medical and dental attention, and 148 others given free legal assistance by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). – Sandy Araneta