What has been done:
Our Community Bail Bond Program entered its fifteenth month once again hampered by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) restrictions. Repetitive lockdowns have resulted in further delays in the conduct of court hearings and the resolution of court cases for Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL). More than ever our CBB Program has become a beacon of hope for deserving PDL and CICL. Our CBB Program Field Officers were unfailing in their duties of conducting weekly monitoring/home visits of referrals & successfully released participants, attending court hearings, coordinating with barangay officials & PAO lawyers, and the processing of bail.
For this period were able to successfully release 4 CBB Participants from detention. Two were successfully bailed out, one was released on provisional dismissal and another one was released through served sentence.
We facilitated interviews with four of our released CBB participants as part of a research paper on the significance of family support for released PDL being developed by Prof. Raymund Narag and his colleague Ms. Rachel Reardon for Southern Illinois University.
We conducted a two-day Interview Skills and Ethics Training for our Program Field Officers with Assistant Professor Hannah Glimpse Nario-Lopez from the University of the Philippines Department of Sociology in order to equip them with the basic principles, theories and appropriate techniques in conducting successful interviews using Filipino psychology and ethics.
We likewise organized an Exploratory Meeting on Parole and Probation Concerns after observing a significant number of sentenced PDL who had requested assistance through our CBB Program with their withdraw of application for probation. Since our CBB program focuses on PDL with ongoing cases, we saw an opportunity to fill this gap by establishing linkages between other like-minded NGOs, the BJMP Manila & Quezon City Jails and the Parole and Probation administration (PPA).
As of August 27 , there have been 205 individuals referred to our program coming from 17 jail facilities, 7 police stations, 3 youth centers, and 3 correctional facilities. Of this number 104 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 31 had been successfully bailed out while another 35 had been released through other legal means. 6 had their cases dismissed, 6 are on provisional dismissal, 4 were successfully referred to probation, 1 was released on recognizance, 21 have since served their sentences, 4 have been acquitted, and 1 CICL was accepted into the diversion program. The rest are still in jail hoping to be granted early release. Of the 66 released, 63 had been reintegrated to their respective families and communities.
More significantly, we have a total of 10 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, capital assistance loans from our partner NGO have been settled, 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 732,060.00. 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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