JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II on Wednesday said President Duterte is expected to sign next week an order granting executive clemency to 127 convicts.
Most of the 127 convicts who will be given clemency are elderly and sickly. He noted there are no high-profile inmates among them.
Those who will benefit from the clemency are inmates from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City and other penal colonies operated by the Bureau of Corrections.
The list included inmates recommended for commutation of sentences, for conditional pardon with parole, for conditional pardon without parole and for absolute pardon.
Aguirre, however, said he could not recall if the list included political prisoners the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) asked to be released.
The NDFP, currently engaged in peace talks with the government to end the long-running armed conflict in the country, is seeking the release of all political prisoners.
Last year Duterte granted absolute pardon to action star Robin Padilla after he was among those recommended by the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) for executive clemency.
Padilla, a known supporter of Duterte, was granted conditional pardon in 1997 by then-President Fidel V. Ramos after serving several years of the 21-year sentence imposed on him for illegal possession of firearms in 1994.
The BPP earlier said a total of 473 inmates have sought executive clemency as of November 2015.
Executive clemency or pardon is a power given to the President to pardon any prisoner, provided for under Article VII, Section 19 of the Constitution and pertains to reprieve, absolute or conditional pardon with or without parole conditions and commutation of sentence.
Parole is the conditional release of prisoners from a correctional institution after they have served the minimum of their sentence.