For the period covering 15 July - 14 August, our Community Bail Bond (CBB) Program for persons deprived of liberty (PDL) kicked into high gear as we were able to collaborate and gain the support of concerned reputable organizations.
Our partnership with El Proveedores Foundation (El Prof) was formalized with a Memorandum of Agreement. We have referred 7 of our released participants for livelihood program of the Foundation. Our Program Field Officers assisted their Social Worker in conducting home visitations to determine the after-care interventions best suited for these participants. So far, one of them needs immediate psychological counselling while others are still struggling with housing and job placements. We are currently exerting all our efforts to support their journey towards reintegration.
The Juvenile Justice Welfare Council (JJWC) meanwhile is in full support of our CBB Program that already includes the CICL as participants. The Program was incorporated into the JJWC’s proposed Legal Assistance Program/Hub. Three (3) Youth Homes/Bahay Pag-Asa’s have also submitted an initial list of 50 CICL for possible assistance thru our Program.
We began exploring a partnership with the Couples for Christ-Isaiah 61:1 Community as we seek to incorporate moral-spiritual interventions to our participants while in detention and post-release.
As of Aug 14, there are 69 individuals referred to our program coming from 6 jail facilities and 2 police stations, of whom, 45 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 9 had been successfully bailed out, 8 had their cases dismissed, one had served sentence and one was successfully referred to Probation. The rest are still in jail hoping to be granted early release. Of the 19 released, 18 had been reintegrated to their respective families and communities.
Through the CBB Program, the government has saved PhP 90,040.00 as of Aug 14, 2020. This is computed by adding the amount budgeted per day (PhP 70 for food) times the number of days since release from jail for every individual released. These savings will increase as days pass and as long as their cases are not terminated. For those whose cases are dismissed, served early or were accepted through probation, we expect a saving 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 are engaged in their various forms of livelihood, thus contributing to the economy.More importantly, we reduced jail crowding which is a very big problem afflicting our correctional facilities, especially in the time of the COVID19 pandemic.
Finally, we minimized their exposure to the criminogenic jail environment leading to better reentry to our society as responsible members.
But this is just the beginning. We envision that more PDLs and CICLs would be referred to our Program soon. We envision that many of them will be restored to their liberties and dignities. When we, as a community, show our compassion to the less fortunate members of our society, we offer them a hook that they can use for their transformation. In the long run, this will benefit all of us in terms of lower rates of recidivism and increase sense of public safety.
If you are willing to support us through Bayanihan Crowd Sourcing:
If you are a lawyer/law student/ paralegal volunteer and wish to help:
If your NGO is willing to partner with our program:
If you want to hear more about the Program, download and listen to this link:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12btn7PSb-dBG___Mwl_d-un1Hlu3KH02t8yuOnk1cBg/edit?usp=sharing
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