DOJ: Almost 12K PDLs freed, jail congestion rate down to 239%

He said DOJ prosecutors now secure a very high conviction rate of 93.59 percent of cases actually filed before the courts. (PNA file photo)

By Benjamin Pulta, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The release of nearly 12,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) resulted in a significant decrease in the congestion rate of the country’s prison facilities, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday.

This is a result of the Marcos administration’s sweeping reforms in the justice system, Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said during the agency’s town hall meeting in Dasmariñas City, Cavite.

“Congestion in prisons remains a challenge but since the change of administration in July 2022 up to March 2024, DOJ has caused the release of 11,940 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) after a diligent review of their prison records. As of May 2024, overcrowding in prisons have been substantially reduced to 239 percent,” Andres added.

Andres said these PDLs were freed through the efforts of the Public Attorney’s Office.

Andres, meanwhile, said this jail congestion rate is a significant drop from the previous 300 percent.

“Hindi pa po na-solve ngunit nasa tamang direksyon na po tayo. Hindi na po tayo pumapayag na may mahinang kaso na isampa sa korte para wala na po harassment, wala pong deprivation of liberty ng walang sapat na ebidensya (We have not yet solved the problem but we are in the right direction because of the reforms. We no longer allow weak cases be filed before the courts so as to eliminate harassment, there will be no more deprivation of liberty without sufficient evidence),” Andres said.

“He added that reforms in terms of streamlining the prosecution process and case build-up to weed out weak harassment and nuisance cases has also resulted in a marked improvement in conviction rates.

He said DOJ prosecutors now secure a very high conviction rate of 93.59 percent of cases actually filed before the courts.

He said the new system institutionalizes cooperation between law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and prosecutors who now take a closer participation in investigating cases.

“We have institutionalized the close cooperation and coordination between prosecutors and LEAs envisioned to weed out weak cases that would not stand the rigors of a court trial. What is more important the threshold of evidence, kung ano po ang ebidensyang hawak bago kayo makasuhan ay kailangan ho kumpleto. Hindi po kagaya ng dati naghahanap ng ebidensya habang trial na. Ngayon po hindi na dapat nasa kamay ng prosecutor ang kumpletong ebidensya beago simulan ang paglilitis (we ensure that the pieces of evidence available before somebody can be charged must be complete. Gone are the days when evidence is sought when the case is already pending before the courts),” Andres said.

“Hindi po nasayang ang pagod ng kapulisan at pagod ng korte at ng prosecutor dahil po sa masinop ng pagkuha ng ebidensya, paghahanda sa trial (The efforts of police and the courts along with the prosecutors in securing evidence is not wasted,” he said.

After a full year of proactive involvement in case build-ups up to March 2024, Andres also said 7,114 weak cases were not filed in courts which contributed to decongestion of its dockets.