BuCor frees 371 inmates

MANILA, Philippines — Over 300 inmates from eight facilities of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), including the congested New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, were released yesterday.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the 371 released inmates were either acquitted, had served their maximum prison term or had been granted parole and probation as part of the agency’s measures to decongest prisons.

Aside from this batch of inmates and the 300 others awaiting executive clemency from President Marcos, Remulla said the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its attached agencies would release more inmates in the coming months.

“We expect decongesting the jails more… What I want, if we’re fortunate enough, by October we will have another batch and another in November and again for Christmas. So things would be continuous,” Remulla told reporters during the releasing rites at the NBP.

Based on the BuCor’s records, 191 of the inmates who were released yesterday were from the NBP, 37 from the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, 45 from the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte, 31 from the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, 30 from the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte, 18 from the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro and 19 from the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City.

Remulla said the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and the Board of Pardons and Parole continuously screen candidates for release to reach the DOJ’s target this year of releasing 3,000 inmates from the NBP, which in its current state has a 330-percent congestion rate.

He added that the DOJ was planning to surpass the 4,000 prisoners released by the Bucor in 2021.

“We will do more.. over and above what was there before,” the justice secretary added.

The DOJ was also in coordination with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology for 2,000 releases from jails for this year.

Meanwhile, PAO chief Persida Acosta said they were hoping to have 2,000 to 3,000 inmates obtain executive clemency.

The DOJ had submitted to Marcos over 350 names of frail and elderly inmates for executive clemency, which the agency expected him to approve on his 65th birthday yesterday.