THE Supreme Court on Thursday eased bail and recognizance rules to decongest prison facilities to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In Administrative Circular No.38, the High Court granted the following bail bonds to indigent detainees during the public health emergency brought about COVID-19 pandemic.
* For those charged with a crime punishable with the maximum period of reclusion temporal or 12 years and one day to 20 years, bail will be computed by getting the medium period multiplied by P3,000 for every year of imprisonment.
* For those charged with a crime punishable with the maximum period of prison mayor or six years and one day to 12 years, bail will be computed by getting the medium period multiplied by P2,000 for every year of imprisonment.
* For those charged with a crime punishable with the maximum period of prision correccional or six months and one day to six years, bail will be computed by getting the medium period multiplied by P1,000 for every year of imprisonment.
* Those charged with a crime punishable with arresto mayor or one month and one day to six months, and arresto menor or one day to 30 days, they may be released on their own recognizance.
The SC, however, said inmates have to be arraigned before being released, and that such proceeding may be done online amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
It added that detainees on trial can also apply for reduced bail, unless they have been jailed for a period as long as the minimum penalty for their alleged crime, in which case they can be released on their own recognizance.
“This is without prejudice to the exercise of the court’s discretion to deny the application for bail or recognizance if there are reasonable grounds based on prevailing jurisprudence and existing rules, and to the imposition of additional bail and conditions, or the
cancellation thereof, to those who will be convicted, pending their appeal,” the SC added.
The SC though said it does not apply to those already serving their prison sentences.
It also said the new guideline, which will take effect immediately, is applicable only during the public health emergency period declared by President Duterte to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
It may be recalled that Office of the Court Administrator earlier reminded lower courts to order the release of detainees who have served the minimum penalty for their alleged offense and to provisionally dismiss cases that have been delayed due to the absence of essential witnesses after those witnesses have been duly informed to attend the hearings of the cases.
Several groups have called for the release of vulnerable detainees while a petition filed by 22 political prisoners is pending with the SC calling for their release as well as that of sick and elderly prisoners who, they said, are more prone to catching the virus inside the
congested prison facilities.
The Bureau of Correction last year said its prison facilities has a congestion rate of 302 percent while the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology said its 467 municipal, district, and city jails nationwide have a staggering 427 percent congestion rate.
Three BuCor inmates — two from the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong city and one from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City — have died of COVID-19 while 47 other inmates have tested positive for the virus.
The BJMP said 233 detainees and jail personnel at three city jails in the country have tested positive for COVID-19.
Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, in Administrative Circular No. 38, said 9,731 persons deprived of liberty have been released from detention through initiatives of the tribunal to decongest jails due to the pandemic.
Peralta said of the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) released from March 17 to 29, 2,082 of them were in the National Capital Region; 4,657 in Luzon (outside of NCR, 1,072 in the Visayas, and 1,920 in Mindanao.
With the courts closed due to the pandemic, the SC has issued various circulars that, among others, allowed the filing online of pleadings, criminal charge sheets, petitions for bails, and release of resolutions; called for strict implementation of guidelines on grant of bail and cognizance, and provisional dismissal of cases; and pilot testing of the use of video conference in hearings of criminal cases.
“With this instant initiative, more PDLs are expected to be released,” Peralta said.
