Undersecretary Markk Perete, spokesman for the Department of Justice (DOJ), said the BuCor released the first two batches of 52 PDLs after they were found to have been freed on good faith. Aside from the 58 released PDLs, Perete said that a DOJ-BuCor joint task force has verified the release of the next batch of at least 87 inmates. Before the PDLs’ release, Perete said the task force deliberated on whether an inmate could be freed or not before they present the report to the oversight committee. More than 2,000 inmates have surrendered to authorities after President Duterte ordered them to turn themselves in as they were erroneously freed under the GCTA law. Sotto’s Senate Bill 1055 aims to stop all illegal activities in all penal institutions nationwide, particularly at the New Bilibid Prison where convicted drug lords managed to continue their illegal activities.

Source: Philippine Star September 28, 2019 15:53 UTC