Jail congestion in Caraga decreases in 2024, says DOJ-13
BUTUAN CITY -- "Following the change in administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Caraga facilitated the release of 11,940 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) resulting to decrease in prison overcrowding by 239 percent as of May 2024 from previous year’s data of 300 percent," said Atty. John S. Magdaraog, regional prosecutor of the Department of Justice - National Prosecution Service (DOJ-NPS) Caraga during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas on August 27 in Butuan City.
Atty. Magdaraog added that the increasing prosecution success rate of the DOJ-NPS from 19 percent in 2016 to currently at 35 percent convictions from the total court dismissals in 2024 contributed to the decrease in court congestion.
In Caraga region, there are a total of 22,354 pending criminal cases in court which are relatively lower than the number of cases from the previous years.
With the decrease in court congestion, there is likewise a decrease in jail congestion as more cases have been resolved.
This decrease could be attributed to the changes in the policies, especially with the issuance of Department Circular No. 20, contributing to the decrease of court and jail congestion, and human rights violations.
Department Circular No. 20 mandates a proactive involvement of prosecutors in the investigation of crimes especially in the case buildup which will ensure that there is sufficient prima facie case and a strong likelihood of conviction before initiating a preliminary investigation based on the complaint.
Magdaraog took pride that the DOJ-NPS Caraga ranked first in the nationwide performance evaluation for the 1st semester of calendar year 2024 based on the 3 performance indicators namely, disposition rate, case ageing rate, and prosecution success rate. (MFC/PIA-Caraga)
