Over 85,000 detainees freed under BJMP paralegal drive

Over 85,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) have walked free from jail facilities across the country within the past year, as the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) intensified its paralegal efforts to de-congest jails and improve access to justice.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported that from June 2024 to May 2025, a total of 85,183 PDLs were released through legal remedies facilitated by the BJMP’s paralegal program. The program is designed to assist qualified detainees in navigating court processes for early release and to ease chronic overcrowding in jails.

According to BJMP records, 11,139 detainees were released due to good conduct time allowance, 8,280 through probation, 23 on parole, and 8,825 on bail.

In addition to court-ordered releases, 15,085 PDLs were relocated to other custodial facilities such as the Bureau of Corrections, provincial jails, youth detention centers, and rehabilitation facilities, to ensure appropriate custodial management.

The BJMP also logged 5,667 permanent case dismissals, 6,342 provisional dismissals, and 7,431 acquittals. Another 16,311 were freed after completing their full sentence, 340 were assigned to community service, and 3,570 were released on recognizance.

To complement legal remedies with physical improvements, the BJMP is currently building 43 new jail facilities nationwide, complete with perimeter fencing and standardized functional areas, in a bid to improve the overall conditions of detention and reinforce de-congestion efforts.