What has been done:
For the month of September our PRESO, Inc. family welcomes its newest members even as our Community Bail Bond Program continued to reach more PDL who deserve to be released from detention. Our Program Field Officers continued with their regular activities that included conducting weekly monitoring/home visits of successfully released participants, providing guidance and updating the steps they are taking towards becoming productive members of their communities.
Fourteen of our CBB Participants had scheduled hearings for the period covered. Three pushed through while the others were postponed/reset for various reasons.
Aside from the weekly monitoring of our released Participants, our Program Field Officers likewise were unfailing in conducting initial home and barangay visits for applicants, coordinating with barangay officials & PAO lawyers, and the processing of bail for CBB Applicants.
For this period, we were able to successfully release 3 CBB Participants from detention through bail. They join the 147 other CBB Participants that have been released, all of whom we are assisting towards community reintegration.
Last September 5, our PRESO, Inc. Board of Directors gathered together for their annual meeting. The gathering served to discuss the significant accomplishments of the organization as well as plans for the short and medium term. The meeting also served to welcome new members of the Board of Directors.
Our Program Field Officers attended the regular service providers meetings at Manila City Jail Male and Female Dorms.
Last September 27, we submitted documents to the BJMP NCR Regional Office as part of the renewal of accreditation as service provider.
Last September 30 we were joined by our partners from the Cagayan de Oro City Volunteers in Prison Service during our regular weekly meeting. The CDO-VIPS group has been implementing our Community Bail Bond Program in their area.
As of September 29, there have been 397 individuals referred to our program coming from 18 jail facilities, 7 police stations, 3 youth centers, and 3 correctional facilities. Of this number 208 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 101 had been successfully bailed out while another 49 had been released through other legal means.
More significantly, we have a total of 36 CBB Participants who have successfully graduated from the CBB Program. We consider participants as having successfully graduated from the Program after their cases have been closed, and at least another six months of monitoring have elapsed. Throughout this period, they must have shown to be responsible members of their community and can lead productive lives.
With their release, the government has now saved Php 2,643,760.00. This is computed by adding the amount budgeted per day (PhP70 for food) per PDL multiplied by the number of days since the day of the release from jail of every individual Participant. These savings will increase as days go by and as long as their cases are not terminated. For those whose cases are dismissed, served early or whose probation was approved, we expect a savings of least 60 days of non-incarceration.
Additionally, on top of the food savings by the government, these individuals are now back to the community and actively engaged in their livelihood- hence contributing to the economy. We minimized their exposure to the criminogenic jail environment leading to better reentry to the society as responsible members.
As we forge ahead with our Community Bail Bond Program, we continue to learn and re-learn approaches and procedures. And this is a welcome experience for us. We envision that more PDLs and CICLs would be assisted soon with their liberties restored, their dignity regained and that their lives are eventually rebuilt. We as a community have a significant role in all these. In the long run, support for our prisons and prisoners as a whole would benefit all of society in terms of lower rates of recidivism and increased sense of public safety. GOD IS ON OUR SIDE!
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