Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. on Tuesday led the release of a new batch of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

The release is part of the government's ongoing prison decongestion program, aimed at easing overcrowding in the country’s penal facilities.

The NBP is scheduled to close by 2028 as part of a regionalization plan that seeks to relocate inmates to various regional prisons and repurpose the vast land occupied by the NBP for development.