(PNA file photo)
The Marcos administration has completed the full digitalization of prison records. Once more, this proves that in President Marcos’ dream of a “Bagong Pilipinas,” no one gets left behind as he strives for a more humane treatment of prisoners while also ensuring heinous crime convicts do not gain unfair access to the parole system.
In November 2024, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) announced that it had finished the digitization of the carpeta, or personal records, of the more than 50,000 inmates in BuCor prison facilities under its care.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said this would help decongest the agency’s prison facilities by speeding up the release of inmates with good records while in detention and those who have completed their sentences.
This was a direct answer to a call made by President Marcos in December 2023 during the National Jail Decongestion Summit in Manila for relevant government agencies to streamline and digitalize records and services for efficient jail decongestion.
“By embracing technology and innovative practices, we can enhance our efficiency, reduce delays, and ensure swift and fair legal proceedings,” he said in a speech delivered by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
“In our pursuit of a Bagong Pilipinas—where communities and government institutions have respect for the law and human rights—it is vital that we work together to come up with measures to decongest our jails and improve the condition of persons deprived of liberty,” the President added.
According to the Chief Executive, the digitization of prison records will allow for better monitoring of the status of PDLs to determine the eligibility for early release of inmates with good records while in detention and those who have completed their sentences.
It will also help calculate or review their credits for preventive imprisonment and time allowances, as well as maintain health information and safeguard and utilize biometric data and other personal identifiers of the PDLs.
The fulfillment of BuCor’s commitment to President Marcos’ call was made possible by assistance from the European Union (EU), which provided seven scanners and seven laptops valued at P12 million.
The equipment were eventually donated to the bureau after the completion of the project, and were distributed to seven operational prisons and penal farms across the nation. These included the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, and Leyte Regional Prison in Leyte.
When European Union (EU) Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro visited the BuCor, Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. showcased the OneBuCor Portal’s Inmate Management Information System, a centralized platform aimed at overseeing the agency’s operations.
The system has various components—from document tracking to human resource management to logistics information—intended to decongest prison facilities and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the justice system.
A family affair
The goal of decongesting jail facilities for the humane treatment of prisoners and the efficient delivery of justice in the country has become a family affair. This is an advocacy shared by the President’s closest family members—his son, Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos, and cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The younger Marcos’ appeal to decongest prison facilities came way before his father’s statement in December 2023, after filing a proposed measure in October 2023 to establish a digital prison records system in the country.
House Bill (HB) No. 9194, or An Act Providing for the Establishment of a Digital Prison Record System by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), bats for a system to store, manage, and share information related to PDLs, their cases, relevant court orders, and other related matters.
In December 2023, Romualdez made the same call in support of the President’s order to streamline and digitalize prison records. He declared that the House of Representatives will welcome any proposal to address the jail congestion.
He also stressed that the congestion of jails, whether municipal, city, provincial, or correctional institutions, is not only a logistical or infrastructural problem but a human rights issue.
Red flags and unmet goals
In October 2021, less than a year before the Marcos administration was sworn in, the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the Senate’s hearing on its proposed 2022 budget admitted that it has not completed its single carpeta system project.
This failure was met with criticism as the promise to complete the project was among the basis for the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UN HRC) decision to water down its resolution on the Philippines, offering only technical assistance instead of recommending a stronger investigation into the reported human rights abuses of the past administration.
The need for the digital records of prisoners and jail facilities was spurred by a crisis during the previous administration, where some convicted individuals, including those found guilty of heinous crimes, were released on the basis of Good Conduct Time Allowance.
As the DOJ then scrambled for information about the time spent in detention of the inmates, this flawed system led to the release of 1,914 heinous crime convicts, whom authorities needed to hunt down or ask to return to prison.
In fact, one of the high-profile inmates who was nearly freed because of the GCTA crisis was former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez, who was convicted for the rape-slay of University of the Philippines-Los Baños students Eileen Sarmenta and Alan Gomez in 1993.
The BuCor had a congestion rate of 170% in 2018. In 2023, before President Marcos ordered the decongestion of jails, the DOJ admitted that 70 percent of detention-prisoners under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) detention facilities were overcrowded at an average congestion rate of 386 percent.
Taking matters into his hands
So, when both President Marcos and Secretary Remulla took over, the DOJ had an unfinished business and the BuCor had overcrowded facilities.
It was in this state that a deliberate decision was made to address the problem of overcrowded jails that burdened both PDLs and prison guards and hamper the justice system.
In his speech at the National Jail Decongestion Summit December 2023, President Marcos reminded members of the National Jail Decongestion Summit (JSCC), which organized the summit, as well as representatives from various government agencies of his administration’s priority.
“This event is in line with our Administration’s priority to decongest our jails and prison facilities, and to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our justice system,” he said, adding that a “whole-of-government approach” was needed for an “efficient, effective, and compassionate” enforcement of justice.
Assuring that his administration is “steadfast” in collaborating with the judiciary to ensure these goals were met, the Chief Executive underscored the need to “ensure that justice is not delayed and denied, and that the rights and dignity of every individual are upheld and protected.”
His dream, after all, of a “Bagong Pilipinas” is anchored on building a society “where justice is swift, fairness is paramount, and compassion prevails.” #
