BuCor reports 22% decrease in NBP congestion

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) reported Wednesday a decrease in the congestion rate of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) under the Marcos administration.

It said the congestion rate decreased by 22.4% from 313% in 2022 to 243% in 2025.

BuCor attributed the decrease to the transfer of 11,601 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from the NBP to other prisons and penal farms as well as the release of 23,629 PDLs from 2022 to 2025.

Meanwhile, BuCor said that new dormitories are under construction to increase the PDLs capacity in the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm, Davao Prison and Penal Farms, and the Leyte Regional Prison.

However, it said 32 more dormitories amounting to P14.6 billion are needed to address the backlog.  

“We are very fortunate to be given P6 billion as per the directive of the President for the construction of eight dormitories including the supermax facility in Sablayan,” BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said in a statement.

BuCor, meanwhile, said that 300 PDLs were transferred from the NBP to the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro today. — Joahna Lei Casilao/RSJ, GMA Integrated News