JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said that President Rodrigo Duterte will sign next week an order giving executive clemency to 127 elderly and sick prisoners detained at the national penitentiary.
Aguirre said that during Monday's Cabinet meeting, Duterte told him that he will sign an order freeing the prisoners, following the recommendation for pardon issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The inmates set to receive clemency will be coming from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) and the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW).
Just before Christmas, the President promised to release more than a hundred old and sick political prisoners as part of the government's continuing efforts to expedite and accelerate the peace negotiations.
However, not one political prisoner has been released so far since then.
According to Article VII, Section 19 of the 1987 Constitution, the President may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons to convicted criminals. (VoxPop Philippines)
