What has been done:
Five months into our Community Bail Bond (CBB) Program and we continue to engage with partners and fellow stakeholders in the march toward a fair and speedy disposition of cases of our persons deprived of liberty (PDL) as well as in proposing measures in improving our criminal justice system.
From the period of 19 September to 16 October 2020, we successfully completed the second batch of the webinar course entitled “Understanding Criminogenic Risk Factors: Implications for Correctional Services and After Care Programs in the Philippine Context”. This batch included participants from Parole & Probation, BJMP and the Supreme Court. We look forward to these new graduates to incorporate the theories of correctional management thru more responsive programs for PDLs.
Prof. Raymund E. Narag, PhD, Head of our Consultants Board, successfully launched his book entitled “Behind Bars at New Bilibid Prison: A Call for Integrated Reforms” last October 14. This new book investigates what ails Philippine corrections and encapsulates his life-long work and advocacy towards correctional reforms.
Our Program Field Officers accompanied several of our CBB participants in their respective court hearings since release. This, as well as our weekly monitoring and home visits, form part of our post-release interventions to ensure successful, though gradual, reintegration into their respective communities.
Our partners from El Proveedores Foundation and IDEALS also continued providing services for several of our CBB participants through capital loan assistance for their livelihood, psychological evaluation/counseling and paralegal assistance and use of office facilities during online hearings.
This period also saw PRESO, Inc.’s participation in the ongoing public discussions on the issue of the death penalty. Also, our Program Field Officers took part in the HLAF webinar series on criminal laws and procedures. We were also able to add to our roster of individual volunteers willing to provide their time and expertise to help our advocacy.
October 25, 2020 marks the celebration of the 33rd Prison Awareness Sunday with the theme, “Restoring Hope and Healing during this Time of Pandemic through God's Transforming Unconditional Love”. The National Correctional Consciousness Week (NACOCOW) shall also be held on October 25-November 1, 2020, with the theme “Seguridad ay Paigtingin, Manatiling Ligtas sa Covid-19”.
PRESO Inc. joins in the celebration with an original song composition contest. The theme for the competition is "Kagalingan at Pag-Asa sa Gitna ng Pandemya". We look forward to selecting the best entries from our participating BJMP jail facilities.
As of October 16, there have been 137 individuals referred to our program coming from 6 jail facilities, 2 police stations and 3 youth centers of whom, 61 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 15 had been successfully bailed out, 9 had their cases dismissed, one had served sentence, 2 was successfully referred to probation, and 2 were released on recognizance. The rest are still in jail hoping to be granted early release. Of the 29 released, 26 had been reintegrated to their respective families and communities.
Through our CBB program, the government has now saved PhP 156,380.00 as of Oct. 16, 2020. 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 helped reduce 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 helped minimize their exposure to the criminogenic jail environment leading to better reentry to the society as responsible members.
However, we did have a share of challenges and learnings. But we continue to enhance our knowledge and skills.
This is just the beginning. We envision that more PDLs and CICLs would be referred to our program soon and that they will be restored to their liberties, their dignity regained and that their lives are eventually rebuilt. As a community, we all have a significant role to 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.
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