783 inmates released in March –BuCor

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on Monday announced that 783 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) were released in March from various prisons and penal farms in the country.

In a statement, BuCor said this brings the number of released PDLs under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to 12,836.

Of those released in March, 132 were acquitted, four were released on bail, two were on conditional pardon, 528 served their maximum sentence, 20 were granted probation, and 97 were granted parole.

Of the total number, 394 were released from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), 96 from the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, 65 each from Correctional Institution for Women and Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, 55 from San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm, 48 from Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm, and 44 from Leyte Regional Prison.

Meanwhile, BuCor said that 500 PDLs from the NBP were transferred to the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City on Sunday evening as part of the agency’ decongestion program.

Two-hundred of those transferred were from the Reception and Diagnostic Center, 150 were from the NBP Maximum Security Compound, and another 150 from the Minimum compound.

At present, BuCor has transferred 2,248 PDLs from the NBP to Leyte Regional Prison, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, Davao Prison and Penal Farm, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm and San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm since January. —Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK, GMA Integrated News