A TOTAL of 500 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City are set to be transferred to Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) in Davao del Norte.
The move was part of the government’s program to ease congestion in the state penitentiary.
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said the inmates to be transferred to DPPF will be housed in the facility’s newly-constructed building.
Earlier BuCor chief Gregorio Catapang Jr. bared plans to move out all PDLs in NBP and transfer them to other prison facilities of the Bureau.
In January, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release more qualified PDLs in an effort to ease overcrowding in the country’s prisons.
The President observed that many PDLs were languishing in jail because they could not afford the services of good lawyers.
“Wala naman silang magaling na abogado. So that’s why we are in favor now to release many of them,” he said.
Aside from NBP and DPPF, the other facilities under BuCor’s jurisdiction include the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) in Palawan, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SRPPF) in Zamboanga City, Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Oriental Mindoro, and Leyte Regional Prison (LRP) in Southern Leyte.
