MANILA, Philippines聽鈥斅燗 total of 784 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) or inmates have been released from June 11 to July 18 from penal institutions under the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
Of the 784, 468 have expired maximum sentences, 165 were acquitted, 122 were paroled, 24 were granted probation, and five were granted Executive Clemency.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has administrative supervision under BuCor and has been taking measures to decongest the jails.
BuCor Director Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said, 鈥淲e honor Mandela because the BuCor is guided by the standard Mandela rules on how to treat PDLs with dignity.鈥�
鈥淢andela, who was also incarcerated during his time, was a great man, a great leader, and a great person who was able to forgive and forget, move on and take his country to greater heights,鈥� Catapang added.
South African Ambassador to the Philippines Bartinah Tombizodwa Radebe-Netshitenzhe then shared her experience of being an activist in prison in her home country, telling the PDLs, 鈥淧rison is not a good place, so you should not come back.鈥�
She also added that a PDL must know how to move on and have a positive mind to be able to rejoin society.
With the release of the 784 PLDs, 15,143 PDLs have now regained their freedom since the start of the Marcos administration.
The government plans to turn the 350-hectare NBP complex into a government center, open park, and mixed-use land.
Catapang earlier said the transfer of the Bilibid inmates is a 鈥渟top-gap鈥� measure to alleviate overcrowding in the national penitentiary while the agency waits for funding for the construction of regional correctional facilities as part of its medium and long-term development and modernization plan.
READ: 985 inmates released from prison
The NBP and BuCor鈥檚 six other operating聽prison聽and penal farms hold over 50,000 inmates, although their total capacity is only around 12,000, or an average聽congestion聽rate of 310 percent.
The national penitentiary alone currently holds 25,886 inmates, although originally it only had a 6,000 capacity when it was built.