The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has appealed to Congress to double the daily medical allowance of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from PHP15 to PHP30 each.
In a hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance, BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. asked committee chair Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian to support the proposal, stressing the urgent need to improve healthcare services in correctional facilities.
Catapang also proposed the passage of a medical parole bill that would allow the release of elderly and medically incapacitated inmates aged 70 and above, based on humanitarian grounds and international best practices.
“Elderly PDLs with chronic illnesses limit their ability to care for themselves and pose minimal risks to public safety,” Catapang said. “The medical parole bill will not only help the BuCor in decongesting overcrowded prisons and penal farms nationwide, but will also alleviate the burden on the prison system. It also recognizes and addresses the basic human rights of some of the most vulnerable inmates.”