Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday announced the release of 357 persons deprived of liberty from six prison facilities of the Bureau of Corrections in line with the agency's thrust to decongest penal facilities in the country.

Remulla said the release of the prisoners will continue every month if they are qualified with the goal of releasing those who are not supposed to be in prison.

The release of the PDLs coincided with the celebration of the 28th National Correctional Consciousness Week, a yearly event during the last week of October under Presidential Proclamation No. 551 issued in 1995.

Of the 357 released PDLs, 122 of them had been granted parole while 235 others had served their jail terms.

Released from NBP were 102 PDLs; Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, 22; San Ramos Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City, 20; Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, 49; Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte, 28; and Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte, 136.

Remulla said there are still 318 pending applications for pardon and clemency before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

To recall, the BuCor release 371 PDLs during the President's birthday, many of whom were senior citizens and those who had served their jail terms and had been pardoned or paroled.