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Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta said Friday that nearly 82,000 inmates had been released since March due to Supreme Court intervention to help stem the spread of COVID-19 in Philippine prisons, notably counted among the facilities of the most congested detention in the world.
“This is the initiative of the Supreme Court and it is not due to the request or request of the parties involved, because we feel that COVID-19 will spread in prisons and other detention centers at that time,” Peralta said at a press conference online.
“It is necessary to decongest the prisons. We saw that many of the detainees were destitute who could not pay bail according to our current rules, ”he said.
With the issuance of several circulars that helped speed up and relax the bail process, the chief magistrate said a total of 81,888 detainees were released from March 17 to October 16.
Of this number, he said 46,032 inmates, including 880 juvenile offenders, were released after lower courts heard the cases via video conference when the government issued closure orders in Luzon and certain areas in Visayas and Mindanao to contain the pandemic. .
Diosdado Peralta —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Reduced deposit
Peralta, who marked his first year in office since President Duterte appointed him the 26th president of the country’s Supreme Court, said 19,173 of those who were released via video conference either paid reduced bail or were released in recognition of the courts.
It said 2,980 released inmates had already completed the minimum prison sentence for their crimes, while the remaining 8,699 were released on parole.
In one of the circulars that the superior court had issued, Peralta said that a defendant on trial for attempted murder would only have to pay P1,000 for his temporary release instead of P12,000.
Out of an average of P150,000 on bail, he said those facing other bail-safe but more serious crimes, such as homicide, can also post reduced bail.
“This is one of the reasons many were released [from jails],” he said.
Recognition
Those accused of crimes with a prison term of less than six months were released in recognition by the lower courts, according to the Chief Justice.
“But we can’t do that to those [being tried for offenses] carrying life imprisonment [as penalty] because there is a constitutional limitation ”, explained the magistrate.
“The Constitution says that bail is requested and then it is left to the prosecution to establish whether the evidence is solid. If the evidence is weak, then you have the right to [post] bail, ”he added.
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