The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) will build new prisons and provide paralegal support for persons deprived of liberty (PDL) as part of its efforts to decongest facilities.

In an interview with ''Laging Handa'' Thursday, BJMP spokesperson Col. Xavier Solda said they would prioritize construction for congested facilities.

“Under our program to decongest our facilities, number one is the programming of the construction of our facilities. That means the most congested will be the first ones we will build facilities for,” Solda said.

He also said BJMP would provide PDLs with paralegal officers and explain the value of good conduct time allowance.

“We have paralegal officers who will speak to the courts for them and monitor their cases closely. Lastly, we will explain to the PDL the importance of good conduct time allowance. In the provision of preventive imprisonment and time allowance helps greatly in decongesting our facilities,” he said over dzBB.

Under Republic Act 10592, known as the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law, sentences of PDLs can be reduced depending on how well they obey rules inside any jail or detention center.

The nationwide congestion rate is at 390 percent, down from 612 percent in 2017, Solda said.

“Based on our collective data, we have 447 jail facilities nationwide and only 334 of them are congested. That means 143 of them are no longer congested,” he added. Jaspearl Tan/DMS