Over 15, 000 PDLs released amid pandemic — DILG

A total of 15,322 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) were freed from jail amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday said.

The PDLs, who are under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), were released from March 17 to June 22 as part of the government’s decongestion program.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said 1,312 PDLs were released on authority of the courts and based on the new guidelines issued by the Supreme Court to decongest jails due to the pandemic.

Año said majority of the released PDLs were elderly and those who committed “light or bailable offenses”.

Of the 15,322 released, 5,910 are from the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila; 1,557 from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon); 1,487 from Central Visayas; 1,041 from Central Luzon; 897 from Zamboanga Peninsula; 762 from Northern Mindanao; and 3,668 spread over the other regions.