What has been done:
We enter the 2023 emboldened and energized after our two-year program was extended for another three years by our funding agent. We intend to further expand the Community Bail Bond Program to benefit more PDL who deserve to be released from detention.
For the period covered, 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 reintegration.
Our two partner organizations from Cagayan Provincial Jail and Cagayan De Oro City-VIPS continue their monitoring of CBB Participants from their respective areas as well as continue to screen referrals for possible assistance. We are extremely proud of how our program has expanded beyond the National Capital Region.
Seventeen of our CBB Participants had scheduled hearings for the period covered. Seven hearings pushed through and the rest were postponed/reset.
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 Participant from detention through bail and other means. They join the 122 other CBB Participants that have been released, all of whom we are assisting towards community reintegration.
Our partnership with Knowledge Advocates of Volunteer Lawyers continued with the third Jail Legal Aid and Visitation activity last January 15, this time at Manila City Jail Female Dorm. We are grateful to Atty. Juman Paa for his continued advocacy of providing legal counseling for PDL.
Last January 18, PRESO Inc. staff paid a courtesy call to newly designated BJMP NCR Director JCSupt. Efren Nemeño. We are so grateful for the warm welcome, a fruitful exchange with key Officers and a being bestowed a beautifully framed gift made by PDL. We wish JCSupt. Nemeño great success during his tenure.
We are always eager to partner with other like-minded organizations open to helping our CBB Participants particularly in their need for livelihood/employment. We had two meetings with CIVY, an online networking portal for a proposed employment project. This was initiated by Atty. Erwin Zagala for CBB Participants.
We attended the service providers meeting at Navotas City Jail Male Dorm last January 30 and were introduced to the new jail warden, Supt. Lucky Dionisio.
Our chief consultant, Dr. Raymund Narag was back in the country for several engagements including, first and foremost as consultant the DOJ Secretary Jose Crispin Remulla. He took time from his busy schedule to get together with the CBB team.
As of February 3, there have been 355 individuals referred to our program coming from 18 jail facilities, 7 police stations, 3 youth centers, and 3 correctional facilities. Of this number 174 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 78 had been successfully bailed out while another 47 had been released through other legal means.
More significantly, we have a total of 27 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 1,851,290.00. 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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