The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) is asking Congress to double the medical allowance of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from PHP15 to PHP30 per PDL per day.
In a news release on Thursday, the BuCor said Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. made the appeal to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, during the hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Justice and its attached agencies last Tuesday.
Catapang underscored the need to increase the medical allowance of PDL, underscoring the necessity of enhancing healthcare provisions within the correctional facilities.
Catapang also told Gatchalian that they are also proposing a medical parole bill aimed at institutionalizing a system of medical parole for elderly aged 70 and above and medically incapacitated, based on humanitarian considerations and global 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 operating 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,”
