1st National Conference of Persons Restored of Liberty, held last May 22, 2026, placed formerly incarcerated individuals at the center of criminal justice system-reform. It recognizes that those who have experienced arrest, detention, incarceration, and reintegration offer valuable insights toward building a more humane, effective, and responsive justice system. Here is the sharing of Sally, a PRL that spent 30 years in prison.

The month of April was highlighted by increased activities for our Community Bail Bond, Bukas Loob Tungo sa Bagong Pag-Asa and BANDILA Aftercare Programs. This even as we started doubling efforts in the preparation for a major conference seeking to bring focus on the lived experiences of former PDL. COMMUNITY BAIL BOND PROGRAM What has been done: Our Program Field Officers continued with their regular activities that included conducting weekly monitoring/home visits of succes

Hopefully, more spaces will emerge where lived experience becomes part of policy-making rather than an afterthought. Hopefully, the voices of those who survived detention and incarceration will no longer remain at the margins of criminal justice discussions, but become essential to the design of laws, procedures, and correctional programs. Because if the criminal justice system truly exists for people, then people must also help shape it.

In a country where freedom is often purchased, the harshest sentence imposed upon the poor is not always conviction. More often, the harshest sentence is poverty itself.

We need bail reform. Not cosmetic reform. Real reform. Congress must abandon the archaic financial bail system and move toward evidence-based risk assessment models grounded in public safety, dangerousness, and likelihood of court appearance. The question should no longer be, “Can the accused pay?” The question should be, “Should the accused be detained?”

The 1st National Conference of Persons Restored of Liberty is more than a gathering—it is a movement. It transforms individual stories into collective insight, and collective insight into actionable reform. By listening to those who have lived through the system, we take a critical step toward building a justice system that is not only effective, but truly humane.