The Bureau of Corrections announced the release of 805 prisoners in April from various correctional facilities and penal farms.
According to Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr., out of this number, 548 have served or expired their maximum sentence, 161 have been granted parole, 67 have been sentenced, 28 have been granted probation, and one for habeas corpus.
Of those released, 42 came from the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, 131 from Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, 39 from Leyte Regional Prison, 148 from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Maximum Security Compound, 204 from the NBP Medium Security Compound, 46 from the NBP Minimum Compound, 17 from Reception and Diagnostic Center, 51 from Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm, and 65 from San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm.
The continuing release of PDLs in different jail facilities under the supervision of BuCor is part and parcel of the decongestion program of the government particularly the Department of Justice under the leadership of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
Earlier in March, some 783 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) have been released bringing to 12,836 the total number released under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
The BuCor said the number of inmates released in March was higher than the 706 released from its various operating prisons and penal farms in February.
Catapang said of those released for March, 132 have been acquitted, four were on bail, two on the conditional pardon, 528 due to expiration of maximum sentence, 20 were granted probation, and 97 have been granted parole.
Parole is the conditional release of a prisoner from a correctional institution after serving the minimum period of a prison sentence, while probation is a privilege granted by the court to a person convicted of a criminal offense to remain in the community instead of going to prison or jail.
On the other hand, conditional pardon is the conditional exemption of a guilty offender from the punishment imposed by the court. For Conditional Pardon, the prisoner shall have served at least one-half of the minimum of his original indeterminate and/or definite sentence. It may be granted by the President on recommendation by the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
The BuCor reported that of the 783 PDLs released in March, 149 were from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Minimum Security Compound; 146 from the NBP Maximum Security Compound; 99 from the NBP Medium Security Compound; 96 from Davao Prison and Penal Farm; 65 from the Correctional Institution for Women; 65 from the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm; 55 from San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm; 48 from Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm; 44 from Leyte Regional Prison; and 16 from the NBP-Reception and Diagnostic Center (RDC).