THE European Union (EU) provided P12 million to digitize the dossier, also known as “carpeta,” of some 50,000 inmates at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
A carpeta includes all basic information of an inmate, including biometric description to sentencing.
The Philippines is one of the countries with the highest level of jail congestion, the EU Delegation in the Philippines earlier said in a statement.
New Bilibid Prison
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in November has announced the completion of the digitization of the records of inmates.
Laptops, high-speed scanners, webcams, and biometric equipment provided by the EU-GoJust should allow BuCor to digitize the carpetas of future inmates.
The digitization of PDLs records should allow for a fail proof and speedy processing of cases, which is needed to decongest correctional facilities.
“The main objective of the EU’s GoJust program is to promote access to justice to all, in the Philippines, including persons deprived of liberty,” said Massimo Santoro, EU ambassador to the Philippines.
“I am therefore very proud that the EU’s support to digitization of carpetas, and our support to the building of the National Justice Information System, will help agencies in their efforts to decongest prisons,” Santoro said.
“The path we are paving towards the seamless administration of justice is becoming clearer, and the goal at the end of the road is beginning to take shape,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.
“We improve our systems to provide real-time justice for all, regardless which side of the justice system you are on,” Remulla said.
The digitized records will allow all of BuCor’s facilities to access their inmates’ files, facilitating their monitoring of PDLs cases, including the timely identification of those eligible for release.
Efforts are also underway to connect the BuCor’s digital database with the other correction agencies like Board of Pardons and Parole, the Parole and Pardon Administration, and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
Once completed and connected to the National Justice Information System, these other agencies will also have access to the digitized carpetas.
EU-GoJust works with the Philippine Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government to develop more responsive and accountable justice services in the country.
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