The Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) will start implementing this May 15 its interim rules which streamlined procedures for persons deprived of liberty (PDL) seeking parole and executive clemency.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the BPP’s Interim Rules on Parole and Executive Clemency will take effect following publication.
Guevarra disclosed that the interim rules is set to be published on April 30 and becomes effective May 15.
Meanwhile, the secretary assured that this has not interrupted the processing of the applications for parole and executive clemency.
Last April 23, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that Guevarra has approved and signed the April 15 BPP Resolution No. OT-04-15-2020 on the Interim Rules on Parole and Executive Clemency.
In its resolution, the BPP stated the interim rules are meant “to expedite the existing process of release of PDLs through parole or executive clemency.”
The interim rules provide that PDLs who are eligible for parole or executive clemency review shall be covered by the interim rules.
Those covered under the interim rules are PDLs over 65 years old who have served at least five years of their sentence, or of those whose continued imprisonment is inimical to their health as certified by a physician of the Department of Health (DoH) or designated by the Malacanang Clinic Director.
“In the processing of parole or executive clemency review, priority shall be given to PDLs who are already of old age, sickly or are suffering from terminal or life-threatening illnesses, or with serious disability,” read the interim rules.
However, it states that “PDLs who have been convicted of Heinous Crimes or Illegal Drugs-related offenses, or are otherwise classified by the Bureau of Corrections as ‘high-risk’, shall not be covered by the Interim Rules.”
The interim rules was issued amid calls from groups for the release of elderly, sickly and other PDLs vulnerable to the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (Jeffrey Damicog)
