About 5,000 persons deprived of liberties will be released by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology not only for Christmas but also to decongest the Metro Manila jails and nearby provinces.
At the weekly Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, BJMP chief, Jail Director Ruel Rivera said they will be granting Good Conduct Time Allowance to PDLs "that's why many will be released this Christmas season."
"More or less we can release about 3,000 to 5,000 this December," Rivera added.
GCTA is a privilege granted to a prisoner, whether detained or convicted by final judgment, entitling him to a reduction of his jail or prison term for every month of actual detention or service of sentence as a reward for good conduct and exemplary behavior.
Rivera said more than 74,000 PDLs have been released this year, most were released on GCTA while only around 10,000 PDLs finished serving their maximum sentence.
However, Rivera said jails still have 358 percent congestion rate. And 122,000 PDLs falls under the BJMP jurisdiction, that can only handle an average of 56,000 PDLs.
Rivera said this paved the way for the bail for indigent PDLs reduced to a cap of P10,000.