What has been done:
Our Community Bail Bond Program is into its seventeenth month of implementation and 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. The 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.
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. We also provided crisis intervention assistance to some of our CBB Participants who are struggling brought about by the ongoing pandemic.
For this period were able to successfully release 1 CBB Participant from detention through bail. She joins the 68 other CBB Participants that have been released, all of whom we are assisting towards community reintegration.
We facilitated interviews with another four of our released CBB participants as part of an ongoing research study 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.
Professor Raymund E. Narag concluded his training on Restorative Justice for the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council.
Our PRESO, Inc. staff participated in a webinar on “Best Ways to Keep a Positive Working Relationship”.
From October 25-31 the National Correctional Consciousness Week and Prison Awareness Sunday was commemorated in all jail facilities. Different programs and activities were conducted throughout the week. PRESO, Inc. participated in the festivities which included the MOA Signing Activity for Accredited Service Providers that was hosted by BJMP-NCR Regional Office. We likewise assisted our partner NGO, El Proveedores Foundation in conducting a webinar for PDL Probationers together with the Parole and Probation Administration (NCR Western Section). We were also able to conducted a donation drive for seven jail facilities in need of equipment and supplies.
October 23 was a sad day for our organization as we lost our Chairperson and President, Aurora N. Reciña. Her life of service centered on the criminal justice system as a former prosecutor and later, judge at the Quezon City-RTC. She was a former Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and president of the Women Lawyers Association of the Philippines. We are forever grateful for her wisdom and guidance in leading our organization.
As of October 29, there have been 212 individuals referred to our program coming from 18 jail facilities, 7 police stations, 3 youth centers, and 3 correctional facilities. Of this number 201 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 34 had been successfully bailed out while another 35 had been released through other legal means.
More significantly, we have a total of 12 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 866,670.00. 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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