The government has launched the first-ever electronic Inmate Management Information System (IMIS) in the country to avoid overstaying prisoners in state penitentiaries due to lost records or inaccurate computation of inmate service of sentence.
The new computerized system was unveiled in ceremonies led by Department of Justice secretary Leila De Lima at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Reservation at Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) compound in Muntinlupa City.
The main features of the IMIS, which is a first in the country’s Corrections Cluster, consist of the live capturing of inmates’ biometric information, automated computation of the period of confinement, including the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) and the monitoring of inmates’ movements and activities.
The biometric feature of the system provides for the positive identification and detection of inmates despite a change in name or other false identity assumed. It also allows for the flagging of the expiration dates of the inmate’s sentence to avoid overstaying, provides for the calendar of hearings, records visitors of inmates for strict monitoring and security purposes and other criminal information.
“The IMIS will be a game changer in the DOJ’s efforts to improve the custody, safekeeping and rehabilitation of prisoners,” De Lima said.
“Accurate information readily available to custodians and corrections officers can very well help in applying the proper interventions for security and rehabilitation purposes. The system is also designed to monitor inmate movements within corrections facilities.”
The IMIS is the Corrections Component of the justice sector-wide National Justice Information System (NJIS) which is a major program of the Aquino administration. It will be integrated into the Single Carpeta System which will interconnect and integrate all Corrections Cluster agencies of the NJIS namely the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP), and the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA).
