Early release from prison

Early release from prison | Daily Tribune

Yesterday, I received some interesting statistics from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology or BJMP, which I wish to share with you. They are about the number of Persons Deprived of Liberty or PDLs who are at this time populating our jails. Sadly, the numbers are not surprising and are aligned with my observations and conversations when I visited the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.

Those in jail are broadly categorized into two: (a) those who have been sentenced and (b) those who are detained pending trial. The data before me says that as of October 2022, there were 14,453 people of both sexes in the first category and 126,381 in the second category.

This was a total of 140,834 PDLs as of October last year. One can readily see that the number of PDLs who are detained far exceeds those who have already been sentenced. What might be the causes of this phenomenon? The statistics do not show, but they may well be related to a slow trial process.

The same statistics say that of the PDLs confined to jail as of October 2022, 78,576 were granted good conduct time allowance or GCTA under Republic Act 10592, or the law on the early release of prisoners for good behavior. Those who committed or are charged with heinous crimes, however, are excluded from earning GCTA.

Also excluded are recidivists, habitual delinquents, and escapees. But to make it easier for those otherwise qualified to earn time allowance, the government has expanded the definition of "good conduct" by not limiting it to conspicuous good behavior but also to the non-commission of an offense during imprisonment.

Prisoners may also earn Time Allowance for Study, Teaching and Mentoring or TASTM under the same law. Prisoners may earn this by attending schooling provided under the Alternative Learning System right inside the jail. If the prisoner teaches or does tutoring, that will be even better for him.

A final way to earn time allowance is through the Special Time Allowance for Loyalty. Loyalty here means the prisoner could leave the jail because of some disorder or conflagration there, but he returned to jail or turned himself in to the authorities voluntarily within 48 hours after the disorder or conflagration had ended. He is given a hefty deduction of 1/5 of his prison sentence.

In our country, the Director General of the Bureau of Corrections, the Chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Warden of a provincial, district, municipal, or city jail are authorized to grant allowances for good conduct and exemplary behavior on the part of prisoners. The allowance, once granted, is irrevocable.

From all indications, the grant of time allowance for good behavior is part of the continuing overall effort of the government to effect the early release of prisoners and, in the process, decongest our prison system. At the same time, it reflects the salutary policy of the State to give due respect to prisoners who are possessed of a dignity all their own.

From the start, however, the government has favored leniency for prisoners open to reform. Article 97 of the Revised Penal Code — an old law — authorizes the grant of time allowance for good conduct, which recognizes prisoners' ability to reform while serving their sentence.

Finally, one more way for the government to effect the early release of PDLs and decongest the prison system is by way of a release on a recognizance under RA 10389, or The Recognizance Act of 2012.

The current laws support the mandate and objectives of our corrections system; the challenge is in the implementation thereof. I suggest that our officials start thinking about and empathizing with the current state of the PDLs for the spirit of the law to manifest itself.