What has been done:
We end the year on a high note with significant gains in our advocacy and direct services and interventions. Our Community Bail Bond Program has grown by leaps and bounds as we continue to persevere in helping Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) and Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) obtain early release from detention through bail and other methods of release. Even as the courts went into their Christmas and New Year break, our CBB Program Field Officers were unfailing in their duties of conducting weekly monitoring/home visits of referrals & successfully released participants.
Aside from the weekly monitoring of released CBB Participants, our Program Field Officers likewise were unfailing in attending court hearings, coordinating with barangay officials & PAO lawyers, and the processing of bail. Through the support of our partner, El Proveedores Foundation, two of our CBB Participants were given capital loan assistance which will enable them to have a source of livelihood.
For this period were able to successfully release 3 CBB Participant from detention through bail. They join the 71 other CBB Participants that have been released, all of whom we are assisting towards community reintegration.
We continued our engagement with our partners in the criminal justice system with workshops and trainings.
We hosted a workshop led by our Chief Consultant, Prof. Raymund Narag, to follow up on his findings on the Classification, Risk Assessment and Case Management Program (CRACMP) which has been pilot implemented at Manila City Jail Dorm since 2019. CRACMP aims to institute an inmate classification system that would measure, using criminological and sociological theories and empirical studies, criminogenic needs of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) to empower the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to respond to the rehabilitative needs of an inmate.
Prof. Narag also conducted a Classification and Risk Assessment training for the officers and staff of the first ever “Kanlungan sa Piitan” jail facility for drug dependent PDL. Located at Malaybalay, Bukidnon, Region X, the facility will be opened during the first quarter of 2022 and shall serve to pilot a holistic drug intervention program for PDL.
We took part in the Quezon City Jail Male Dorm Service Providers Kamustahan luncheon, the highlight of which was the election of new officers for the Service Providers that will help the jail management in coordinating programs and activities for PDL. Our very own Solita Baltazar was elected as Treasurer.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the different NCR jails forged ahead with their Christmas and Year-End Thanksgiving programs for PDL. We were able to provide some supplies and much need equipment for 8 NCR jail facilities.
As of December 31, there have been 238 individuals referred to our program coming from 18 jail facilities, 7 police stations, 3 youth centers, and 3 correctional facilities. Of this number 112 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 39 had been successfully bailed out while another 35 had been released through other legal means.
More significantly, we have a total of 13 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 970,410.00. 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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