Overcrowded Philippine Prisons Keep Inmates Beyond Sentencing Date

Imagine going to prison in the Philippines. You would be subject to all kinds of inhumane conditions including overcrowding.

https://www.ucanews.com/news/packed-like-sardines-philippine-prisons-provide-inhumane-reality/89492

Certainly you would want to leave once your time was up. But what if they refused to let you go? That is the accusation of the Supreme Court.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/05/release-prisoners-who-have-served-jail-termsunless-further-detention-is-warranted-by-law/

The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the immediate release of prisoners who have served their jail terms even without release orders from the courts, unless they are being held further for other lawful cause.

“Any further delay in the release from imprisonment of a person deprived of liberty (PDL), except for reasons allowed by law, is nothing but unjust,” stated the circular issued last Thursday, Aug. 4, by SC Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva.

Villanueva said the circular was issued when several government agencies “have expressed concerns over delays” in securing release orders from courts for PDLs who have served their jail terms and the delays also “delayed the release of PDLs from imprisonment.”

The circular issued to all trial courts also stated:

“Considering Release Orders are not necessary for the extinguishment of criminal liability and have no bearing on a PDL’s completion of his/her sentence of imprisonment, all first and second level courts need not issue any Release Order for a PDL who has (a) completed his/her service of sentence and (b) when there is no other lawful reason for him/her to stay incarcerated.”

It's a no-brainer that prisoners should be released once they have served their time. But in the Philippines employees of the BJMP have no brains and prisoners are held over for unlawful reasons. It's more evidence that the Philippine justice system is corrupt and inept beyond belief.