PRESO, INC. MONTHLY ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT 02 - 29 MAY 2026

The month of May brought to the forefront the concept of lived experiences in the criminal justice sector. This even as we continued with our flagship programs: Community Bail Bond and Better Versions. Now more than ever, we at PRESO Foundation see how much has been gained but much, much more needs to be done.

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 successfully released participants, providing guidance and updating the steps they are taking towards becoming productive members of their communities.

We successfully bailed one PDL and are guiding him in his journey towards reintegration.

As of May 29, there have been 529 individuals referred to our program coming from 24 city jail facilities, 2 provincial jail facilities, 17 police stations, 3 youth centers, 3 correctional facilities, and 3 national agencies. Of this number 267 had been interviewed. Of the interviewed, 156 had been successfully bailed out while another 55 had been released through other legal means.

More significantly, we have a total of 113 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, 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 ₱ 6,600,780.00. 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.

BETTER VERSIONS INITIATIVES

The BANDILA Aftercare Program at Manila City Jail Male Dormitory continued with its pre- and post-release interventions. Two released PDL were interviewed for possible assistance.

1st NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF PRL

Last May 22, The 1st National Conference of Persons Restored of Liberty was held at the Bayview Park Hotel. Co-organized by PRESO, Inc. with 6 other organizations, the conference recognized lived experience as a legitimate and valuable form of knowledge. In medicine, cancer survivors are consulted to improve cancer care systems because clinical data alone cannot fully explain the human consequences of illness and treatment. In mental health, former patients are consulted because therapeutic interventions often look very different on paper than they do in real life. The same principle applies to criminal justice. If we truly want to understand prisons, jails, parole systems, and court processes, then we must listen to the people who actually survived them.

For the first time in the country’s history, around forty Persons Restored of Liberty, or PRLs became the center of the discussion, not as research subjects, not as statistics in annual reports, and not as objects of pity, but as speakers, facilitators, organizers, and contributors to the conversation on criminal justice reform. Present in the gathering were representatives from the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, NAPOLCOM, PNP, BJMP, BuCor, the Public Attorney’s Office, Parole and Probation Administration, prosecutors, judges, jail officers, prison officials, parole and probation officers, and other criminal justice stakeholders. They did not come primarily to lecture. They came to listen.

Hopefully, this conference will not be the last of its kind. Hopefully, more spaces will emerge where lived experience becomes part of policymaking 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.

PRESO, INC. NEWS

We met with representatives from Arkadis_Ph to discuss their support for the next two batches of our Bukas Loob Tungo sa Bagong Pag-Asa project.

As we forge ahead with our Community Bail Bond Program and Better Versions Initiatives, 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!