What has been done:
Our Community Bail Bond Program caps the year off with significant gains in our advocacy and direct services and interventions.
An exploratory meeting was held with volunteer lawyers and service providers based in Cebu City for the possible replication of the CBB Program. We are pleased that our CBB concept is being embraced by other like-minded organizations and volunteers.
The CBB Program was also given a boost after being featured in the TV Patrol Weekend episode last December 26 where a follow-up story on our first three CBB participants was shown.
Our Program Field Officers continued with their sometimes overwhelming, tasks 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.
Our partners from El Proveedores Foundation also continued providing services through capital loan assistance and other forms of support for CBB participants and their family members as part of our collective efforts to ensure a successful reintegration of our CBB participants into their communities.
Our partners from IDEALS also continued providing paralegal support services. Through their help we were able to obtain the release of one PDL with special health concerns. We are also finalizing a Primer on Bail Processing for distribution to police stations, detention centers and jail facilities.
Two of our PRESO Inc. stalwarts, Ms. Tess Gomez and Prof. Raymund Narag, were featured in separate FB Live interviews in a program supported by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Commission on Prison Pastoral Care last December 8 and 22 respectively.
We successfully completed a special batch of the webinar course entitled “Understanding Criminogenic Risk Factors: Implications for Correctional Services and After Care Programs in the Philippine Context” for the Parole and Probation Administration. We are encouraged as more and more are being made aware of the theories behind a human rights-based approach to effective correctional management.
We continued to coordinate and assist other NGO’s and generous individuals willing to help in the recovery efforts of several jail facilities that were affected by the recent typhoon Ulysses.
We are grateful also for the trust placed in our organization by other groups and individuals who provide much needed donations for the PDLs in jail facilities.
As of November 20, there have been 156 individuals referred to our program coming from 6 jail facilities, 2 police stations and 3 youth centers of whom, 85 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 21 had been successfully bailed out, 9 had their cases dismissed, 2 were successfully referred to probation, 3 were released on recognizance, 4 had served their sentences, 1 had 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 41 released, 39 had been reintegrated to their respective families and communities.
Through our CBB program, the government has now saved PhP 303,100.00. This is computed by adding the amount budgeted per day (PhP70 for food) 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.
More importantly, we reduced jail crowding which is one of the major issues that is faced by 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 the society as responsible members.
However, we were also faced with a number of challenges that usually involved dealing with police officers and court personnel and delays in securing bail documents. But we are all taking these in stride. We continue to learn and re-learn approaches and procedures. And this is a welcome experience for us. We know that this is just the beginning. 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!
We are PRESO, Inc. wishing everyone a safe and blessed New Year!
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