PRESO, INC. MONTHLY ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT 06 DECEMBER 2025 - 02 JANUARY 2026

We close out 2025 with continued resolve to provide paralegal support, avenues towards release, and pathways to reintegration for PDL. Our Community Bail Bond Program continues to help aid in obtaining early release for PDL while our Better Versions initiatives continues developing avenues towards re-socialization and reintegration of released 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 successfully released participants, providing guidance and updating the steps they are taking towards becoming productive members of their communities.

As of January 2, there have been 527 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, 155 had been successfully bailed out while another 55 had been released through other legal means.

More significantly, we have a total of 90 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 ₱ 5,988,530.00. 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 INITIATIVE

The BANDILA Aftercare Program at Manila City Jail Male Dormitory held an Advent Recollection last December 12 facilitated by Sr. Tammy Saberon. The recollection invited participants to reflect on waiting, hope, and conversion as they stood on the threshold of freedom. Through prayer, Scripture sharing, and quiet reflection, the PDL were encouraged to see their coming release not merely as an end to detention, but as a sacred moment of new beginnings.

In 2025, the Prisoners Enhancement and Support Organization, Inc. (PRESO, Inc.), through a generous grant from the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Foundation, implemented With an Open Heart Towards New Hope (Bukas Loob Tungo sa Bagong Pag-Asa), a structured reintegration program for selected Persons Restored of Liberty (PRLs).

The project addressed one of the most critical yet underserved stages of the justice process: life after release by providing values formation, financial literacy, livelihood development, entrepreneurship mentoring, and sustained aftercare support. Beginning with five carefully sequenced empowerment sessions between May and July 2025, followed by one-on-one visitation, mentoring and provision of developed income generating interventions from July to September 2025, the program empowered beneficiaries to rebuild their lives with dignity, responsibility, and renewed hope.

The project successfully met its objectives and parameters.

While formal activities under the MDRT grant have concluded, PRESO, Inc. remains committed to the continued monitoring and accompaniment of beneficiaries as part of its long-term aftercare mandate.

PRESO, INC. HIGHLIGHTS

PRESO, Inc. took part in the BJMP's annual Christmas Wish Tree project where PDL wrote down humble requests attached to makeshift Christmas Trees that service providers, visitors and guests may provide. The activity gave PDL a chance to experience the joys of the season even while in detention.

Last December 9 we replaced the missing tablet used for tele-hearing and e-dalaw activities at Malabon CJ-MD that was lost during the jail disturbance that occurred the previous month.

The 77th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was celebrated by the presentation of human rights progress and achievement by the Philippine Human Rights Commission (PHRC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) during a two-day gathering last Dec. 9 7 10. PRESO, Inc. participated as a reactor during the DILG's presentation on the rights of PDL.

An "Ugnayan at Pasasalamat" gathering of BANDILA and "Bukas Loob Tungo sa Bagong Pag-Asa" beneficiaries was held last December 18. The program beneficiaries, together with their partners and children gathered together for a fellowship and Christmas thanksgiving program. The session enabled the beneficiaries to share how their journey towards self-reliance and reintegration has gone so far.

In celebration of the holiday season, the participants were treated to parlor games and provided with humble gifts and children’s toys. The gathering likewise provided a safe space to socialize and give thanks for the opportunities provided by the two programs.

We met with Mr. Noel dela Cerna, a law student who's thesis focuses on the challenges faced by PDL in their access to justice, specifically in the various modes of early release.

We closed the year with our annual lunch gathering of CBB and BANDILA implementers, giving thanks for the blessings received and having hurdled all the challenges of 2025.

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!