THE Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) yesterday said 740 inmates were released from August to October this year, bringing to 16,657 the number of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who gained their freedom since 2022 as part of the agency’s overall effort to decongest its prison facilities, especially the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said that of the released inmates, 459 have completed their maximum sentence, 147 were acquitted, 40 on probation, 86 on parole, three due to the court’s granting of their habeas corpus petition, one was allowed to post bail, and another had his arrest order lifted.
Three others were turned over to local jails due to pending cases.
Catapang said 41 of the released inmates were from the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, three from CIW – Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, 17 from CIW – Mindanao, 106 from the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, 31 from the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, 21 from the Leyte Regional Prison, 185 from the NBP – Maximum Security Camp, 144 from NBP – Medium Security Camp, 35 from NBP – Minimum Security Camp, 11 from NBP – Reception and Diagnostic Center, 41 from the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Oriental Mindoro, and 105 from San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City.
“The release of PDLs underscores our commitment to rehabilitating lives and reintegrate individuals into society for those who have served their time,” Catapang said.
“Each time we release a person deprived of liberty, we are giving him or her a chance to embark on a new chapter in his or her life, and every release is more than just a statistic. It is a story of resilience, hope and a chance to start a new life,” he also said.
The NBP and six other operating prison and penal farms of BuCor nationwide hold over 52,000 inmates, although their total capacity is only around 12,000, or an average congestion rate of 231 percent.
The national penitentiary holds over 28,000 inmates, a far cry from its original capacity of only 9,885 when it was built.
The Department of Justice, the mother agency of the BuCor, instituted a decongestion program in 2022, particularly at the NBP prior to its planned closure in 2028 to be turned into a commercial and business center.
