What has been done:
For the period covered PRESO, Inc. entered its second year of the Community Bail Bond Program with renewed resolve. 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.
Our partnerships with El Proveedores Foundation, IDEALS, Inc. and volunteer lawyers have been further strengthened in order to ensure that our program participants are monitored and provided with post release assistance and interventions.
As of July 2, there have been 181 individuals referred to our program coming from 12 jail facilities, 4 police stations and 3 youth centers of whom, 95 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 24 had been successfully bailed out while another 25 had been released through other legal means. 6 had their cases dismissed, 3 are on provisionary dismissal, 3 were successfully referred to probation, 1 was released on recognizance, 15 have since served their sentences, 3 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 49 released, 47 had been reintegrated to their respective families and communities.
With their release, the government has now saved Php 615,160.00. 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.
We are grateful for all the other NGOs and generous individuals who support our advocacy and provide much needed assistance and resources. We are likewise grateful for the increasing support of our partners in the Public Attorney’s Office and the various Office of the Clerks of Court, the Barangay Officials, and law enforcement officers who have shown their support for the Community Bail Bond Program and are now assisting us in our different activities.
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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