Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday said he would talk with National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. to explore the possibility of including persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in the vaccination of general public considering the steady supply of vaccines against Covid-19.
The justice chief admitted that congestion in various prisons facilities necessitates the attention of government agencies tasked to control the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We will make proper representation with the office of Secretary Galvez…. In addition to what the LGUs [local government units] can provide the crowded condition in prison facilities makes it necessary to give attention to the PDLs plight,” he said.
Based on the Bureau of Corrections data as of October 18, 2021, there are a total of 1,414 PDLs out of the 28,499 PDLs at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa have either been fully vaccinated or received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
For the Correction Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City with a population of 3,341 PDLs, a total of 3,100 PDLs have already been fully vaccinated.
In San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Talisayan, Zamboanga City, 214 PDLs out of the total 2,264 PDLs have been fully vaccinated.
In Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte, 60 PDLs have been vaccinated out of the 7,195 total PDLs.
None of the PDLs in Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro (with a total of 2,409 population), Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan (with a total population of 2,723) and the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte (with 2,080 total population) has been inoculated.
On the other hand, out of the 2,218 BuCor personnel assigned at the NBP, a total of 965 have been vaccinated with Covid-19 vaccines.
Out of the total of 1,682 BuCor personnel in other penal colonies, a total of 588 have been vaccinated.