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COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTION PROGRAMS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Community-Based Treatment Programs are those programs that are intended to treatcriminal offenders within the free community as alternatives to confinement. It includes all correctional activities directly addressed to the offender and aimed at helping him to become a law-abiding citizen.

THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Community sentence seek to repair the harm the offender has caused the victim or the Community, provide for public safety and rehabilitate and promote effective reintegration.

Community correction has traditionally emphasized REHABILITATION as its goal. The staff of

community correctional programs has two potentially competing roles that reflect different goals:

a. b. Seeing that offenders comply with the orders of community sentences.

Helping offenders identify and address their problems and needs.

SUBJECT COVERAGE

1. Probation - One of the most common forms of community correction is probation. Probation can be thought of as a type of post-trial diversion from incarceration. A term coined by John Augustus, from the Latin verb “probare”- to prove, to test.

It is a disposition under which a defendant after conviction of an offense, the penalty of

which does not exceed 6 years of imprisonment, is released subject to the conditions

imposed by the releasing court and under the supervision of a probation officer.

Furthermore, it is defined as a sentence in which the offender, rather than being

incarcerated, is retained in the community under the supervision of a probation agency

and required to abide by certain rules and conditions to avoid incarceration.

2. Diversion – For juvenile offenders or CICL

3. Restitution - In recent years it has become increasingly common for jurisdictions to include

restitution orders as part of probation.

Money paid or services provided to victims, their survivors, or to the community by a

convicted offender to make up for the injury inflicted.

4. Halfway houses - Community-based residential facilities that are less secure and restrictive than prison or jail but provide a more controlled environment than other community correctional programs.

Goal of Halfway House: The goal of halfway houses is to provide offenders with a temporary period of highly structured and supportive living so they will be better prepared to function independently in the community upon discharge.

What is home Confinement? It is a program that requires offenders to remain in their homes except for approved periods of absence; commonly used in combination with electronic monitoring. Home confinement is also known as home incarceration, home detention, and house arrest.

OTHER ASPECTS OF CORRECTIONS

1. Parole - It is the process of suspending the sentence of a convict after having served. the minimum of his sentence without granting him pardon, and the prescribing term upon which the sentence shall be suspended.

2. Executive Clemency

It shall refer to Absolute Pardon, Conditional Pardon with or without Parole conditions and Commutation of Sentence as may be granted by the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Board of Pardon and Parole.

a. Pardon is a form of executive clemency granted by the President of the Philippines as a privilege to a convict as a discretionary act of grace. It is an act of grace extended to prisoners as a matter of right, vested to the Chief Executive (The President) as a matter of power. Neither the legislative nor the judiciary branch of the government has the power to set conditions or establish procedures for the exercise of this Presidential prerogative. The following are the two

types of pardon:

1. Absolute Pardon-It refers to the total extinction of the criminal liability of theindividual to whom it is granted without any condition whatsoever and restores to the individual his civil rights and remits the penalty imposed for the particular offense of which he was convicted.

Purpose:

a. To right a wrong

b. To normalize a tumultuous political situation.

Absolute Pardon is also granted by a President to an imprisoned president the incumbent has deposed. Absolute Pardon is granted in order to restore full political and civil rights to convicted persons who have already served their sentence and have reached the prescribed period for the grant of Absolute Pardon.

2. Conditional Pardon-It refers to the exemption of an individual, within certain limits or conditions; from the punishment that the law inflicts for the offense he has committed resulting in the partial extinction of his criminal liability.

It is also granted by the President of the Philippines to release an inmate who has been

reformed but is not eligible to be released on parole.

b. Amnesty - A general pardon extended to a group of persons, such as political offenders purposely to bring about the return of dissidents to their homes and to restore peace and order in the community.

c. Commutation of Sentence - An act of the president changing/ reducing a heavier sentence to a lighter one or a longer term into a shorter term. It may alter the death sentence to a life sentence or a life sentence to a term of years. It does not forgive the offender but merely reduces the penalty pronounced by the court.

d. Reprieve - A temporary stay of the execution of a sentence especially the execution of the death sentence. Generally, Reprieve is extended to prisoners sentenced to death. The date of execution of the sentence is set back several days to enable the Chief to study the petition of the condemned man for commutation of sentence or pardon

Meaning of Detention/Detainee and Detention Prisoner

Detention is a restraint of personal liberty or deprivation of freedom of action in any significant manner.

(PNP Operational Procedure 2010)

Detainee - as defined by the BJMP, refers to a person who is accused before a court or competent authority and is temporarily confined in jail while undergoing or awaiting trial, investigation or judgment.

Detention Prisoner - refers to a person arrested due to the commission of s crime/offense by the arresting unit for custodial investigation. It, likewise, includes a person arrested for crimes, heinous in nature, against national

security and high-profile crimes.

When the person is arrested for the alleged commission of a crime, he may avail his temporary

release by these legal remedies:

Bail, Recognizance, and Habeas Corpus

When the accused is already convicted or serving his penalty, he may avail these legal remedies to regain his liberty:

Probation, Parole, Pardon and Amnesty

Basis of Temporary Release of a Detained Person

1. 1987 Philippine Constitution, Art. III Sec. 13 - allows 2 modes which are Bail and ROR

2. Rules of Court - Rule 102 - Habeas Corpus

3. Rule 114 of the 1985 Rules of Court - Rules on Bail

BAIL - is the security given for the release of a person in custody of the law.

 to guarantee his appearance before any court as required under the conditions

hereinafter specified.

 Furnished by him or a bondsman

 To guarantee his appearance before any court as required

Bail Bond - is an obligation given by the accused with one or more sureties, with the condition

to be void upon the performance by the accused of such acts.

Bond - a binding agreement

Surety - a guarantee that you will do what you are legally required to do.

Different Forms of Bails

1. Corporate Surety- any domestic or foreign corporation, licensed as a surety in accordancewith law and currently authorized to act as such, may provide bail by a bond subscribed jointly

by the accused and an officer of the corporation duly authorized by its board of directors.

Take note that the corporate surety is considered as the jailer or custodian of the accused

and his obligation is to produce the body of the accused whenever so required. Failure to do so

is a violation of the condition of the bond. Failing in this respect, forfeiture of the bail bond is

proper.

2. Property Bond- is an undertaking constituted as a lien on the real property given as security for the amount of the bail.

3. Cash Deposit - the accused or any person acting on his behalf may deposit in cash with the nearest collector of internal revenue or provincial city, municipal treasurer, or the clerk of the court where the case is pending, the amount of bail fixed by the court, or recommended by the prosecutor who investigated or filed the case.

4. Recognizance - an obligation of record entered into usually by the responsible members of the community before some court or magistrate duly authorized to take it, with the condition todo some particular act, the most usual act being to assure the appearance of the accused for trial.

When Is Bail a Matter of Right?

Section 4 of Rule 114 states that all persons in custody shall be admitted to bail as a matter of

right:

1. Before or after conviction by the Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court, Municipal

Trial Court in Cities, or Municipal Circuit Trial Court;

2. Before conviction by the Regional Trial Court of an offense not punishable by death, reclusion

perpetua, or life imprisonment

When Is Bail a Matter of Discretion?

1. Upon conviction by the Regional Trial Court of an offense not punishable by death, reclusion

perpetua, or life imprisonment, admission to bail is discretionary.

2. If the penalty imposed by the trial court is imprisonment exceeding six (6) years, the accused

shall be denied bail, or his bail shall be canceled upon a showing by the prosecution, with notice

to the accused, of the following or other similar circumstances:

 That he is a recidivist, quasi-recidivist, or habitual delinquent, or has committed the

crime aggravated by the circumstance of reiteration;

 That he has previously escaped from legal confinement, evaded sentence, or violated

the conditions of his bail without valid justification;

 That he committed the offense while under probation, parole, or conditional pardon; That the circumstances of his case indicate the probability of flight if released on bail; or

 That there is undue risk that he may commit another crime during the pendency of the

appeal.

Who has the burden of proof to show that evidence of guilt is strong?

At the hearing of an application for bail filed by a person who is in custody for the commission of

an offense punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment, the prosecution has

the burden of showing that evidence of guilt is strong.

WHAT ARE THE GUIDELINES IN SETTING THE AMOUNT OF BAIL?

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 9. Financial liability of the accused to give bail;

Nature and circumstance of the offense;

Penalty for the offense charged;

Character and reputation of the accused;

Age and health of the accused;

Weight of the evidence against the accused;

Probability of the accused appearing at the trial;

8. Forfeiture of other bail;

The fact that the accused was a fugitive from justice when arrested; and

10. Pendency of other cases where the accused is on bail.

AS A GENERAL RULE, WHERE SHOULD BAIL BE FILED?

> It may be filed with the court where the case is pending. In the absence of the judge

thereof, bail may be filed with any RTC or MTC judge in the province, city or

municipality.

> If the accused is arrested in a province, city or municipality other than where the case

is pending, bail may also be filed with the RTC of said place, or if no judge is available,

with any MTC judge therein

> But where bail is a matter of discretion or where the accused seeks to be released on

recognizance, bail may only be filed in the court where the case is pending

> Any person in custody not yet charged may apply for bail with any court in the

province, city or municipality where he is held

Excessive Bail - means a bail set at a higher amount than that reasonably calculated to ensure

the presence of the accused at the trial. It is prohibited for the following reasons:

1. To safeguard the liability of the individual,

2. Imposition of excessive bail amounts to nullification of the right to bail which is

offensive to the constitution,

3. Right to bail would become meaningless