Philippines frees 580 inmates in effort to decongest jail system

THE PHILIPPINE Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on Thursday released 580 more inmates from the national penitentiary and local prisons as part of efforts to decongest the country’s jails.

At a livestreamed ceremony of their release, jail chief General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang said 353 of the inmates were released on parole, 61 were acquitted, while other inmates had completed their prison sentences.

He said the freed prisoners would be given certificates of discharge from the national penitentiary, grooming kits and transportation allowances.

“We have a nice future here at BuCor,” Mr. Catapang said in Filipino. “We can decongest our prisons in five years.”

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla earlier told the United Nations Human Rights Council he seeks to release 5,000 inmates by June.

Many of the country’s jails fail to meet the UN’s minimum standards given inadequate food, poor nutrition and unsanitary conditions, according to Human Rights Watch

At the same event, Mr. Remulla said the government would continue prison reforms to allow ex-convicts to contribute to society.

He said recent reforms in criminal prosecution would help decongestion, such as ensuring that only cases with a reasonable certainty of conviction would be pursued by state prosecutors.

Last month, the Department of Justice (DoJ) lowered the bail for poor Filipinos to half of the recommended bail or P10,000, whichever is lower.

“We still have a lot of problems here at the DoJ and Bureau of Corrections, but we are fixing our justice system,” he said in Filipino.

Mr. Remulla told the United Nations (UN) Rights Council on March 1 the government had cut the number of inmates more than four times to about 50,000 last year from the 2021 level. He added the government had released 4,124 inmates since he assumed office on July 1.

“The approach of our new administration is a whole-nation, all-government solution to every step of the criminal justice process,” according to a copy of his UN speech sent by his office. “No longer shall our penal code be used, abused or weaponized.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez