BJMP to free PDL once court orders

TheMonitorMindanaoToday.com | BJMP to free PDL once court orders 

By: Uriel Quilinguing

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Northern Mindanao (BJMP 10) reassures Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) immediate release upon orders from judicial courts, as the agency observes the 28^th National Correctional Consciousness Week (NaCoCoW) starting on Sunday, Oct. 25.

“Once the court issues an order, we can assure the public that they will be released within 24 hours,” said Jail Chief Supt. Felixberto S. Jagorin Jr., regional director of BJMP 10, but clarified that the length of stay of detainees in their facilities is beyond their control.

Jagorin said there are inmates who have been behind bars for over 10 years, particularly those accused of heinous crimes and are awaiting schedules of court hearings and eventual decisions.

“The fastest for a court hearing to be set is three months,” the BJMP 10 head said and that is due to vacancies in judicial courts and prosecution service across the country. There have been instances where one judge sits in two court branches.

Nongovernmental organization Prisoners Enhancement and Support Organization, Inc. (Preso) observed that occupancy rate in local judicial courts across the country is less than 75 percent. In Northern Mindanao, for instance, out of the 124 created court branches, 34 of which were vacant in 2023.

The BJMP is part of the Corrections which is the 4^th of five interconnected five pillars of the country’s criminal justice system, the other four being Law Enforcement, Prosecutions, Judicial Courts, and Community.

Under Republic Act 6975 or the Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990, the BJMP is mandated to provide secure, safe, and humane custody for PDL, including those undergoing investigation, awaiting final court judgment, or serving sentences of three years or It should conduct rehabilitation and welfare programs to prepare inmates for reintegration into society.

Jail Chief Insp. Jezza Mae Sarah C. Sanchez, who heads the BJMP 10’s Welfare and Development Division, said they cannot exactly determine how many of the 6,746 PDLs in Northern Mindanao would be freed at any given time, even with the adoption of a BJMP Release Date Tracker digital system.

“Detainees are under the courts’ jurisdiction, but once they have achieved their maximum imposable penalty, we would initiate asking the court to issue release order,” Sanchez explained.

In 2025, the Justice DataLab Team that Sanchez heads bagged the Civil Service Commission (CSC) “Gawad Pagasa Award.” The innovative in-house digital tracking system effectively monitors facility logistics, legal processes, and information on all PDLs in the 26 jails under BJMP 10’s watch. – Uriel Quilinguing

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