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Correctional System of the Philippines

The Correctional System in the Philippines is composed of six agencies under three distinct and separate
departments of the national government. That three departments of the national government are the
following:
1. The Department of Justice
2. The Department of the Interior and Local Government
3. The Department of Social Welfare and Development

Bureau of Corrections - is an agency under the Department of Justice mandated to carry out institutional
rehabilitation programs of the government for national offenders, those sentenced to more than  three years and to
ensure their safe custody. It is composed of seven operating institutions located all over the country to accept
national prisoners. The central office is located in the New Bilibid Prison, Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, where
the director, the assistant director and the general administration staff are holding official functions.

Bureau of Correction Mandate - The rehabilitation of national prisoners.

Bureau of Correction Slogan - bringing back the dignity of man.

Bureau of Correction Principles

- accomplishing its mandated objectives and performing its assigned
   functions.
1. To confine prisoners by giving them adequate living spaces as the 
    first conditions to be met before any effective
    rehabilitation programs can be undertaken.
2. To prevent prisoners fro committing crime while in custody.
3. To provide humane treatment by affording them human basic
    needs in the prison environment and prohibiting
    cruel methods and provide a variety of rehabilitation program.

Bureau of Corrections Operating Institutions

1. New Bilibid Prisons - Muntinlupa City
2. Correctional Institution for Women - Mandaluyong City
3. Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm - Puerto Princesa City
4. Davao Prison and Penal Farm - Davao del Norte
5. Sablayan Prison and Penal farm -  Occidental Mindoro
6. San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm - Zamboanga City
7. Leyte Regional Prison - Leyte

Institutional Programs
1. Inmate work program
2. Health care
3. education and skills training
4. Recreation and Sports
5. Religious guidance and behavior modification using the therapeutic
    community approach.

Penal Management
Corrections - is typically carried out by government agencies and involves the punishment, treatment, and
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supervision of persons who have been    convicted of crimes.               

                      
Penology - The study of the punishment of crime and prison management.Is a section of criminology that deals with the
philosophy and practice to repress criminal activities via an appropriate treatment and supervision of persons convicted of
criminal offenses.
                   
Punishment - is the infliction or imposition of a penalty as retribution for an offense."The penalty inflicted".
                        
Prison reform - is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons and aiming a a more effective penal system.

Prison - is a place in which people are physically confined and usually deprived of a range of personal freedoms.
             
Jail - is a short term detention facility.

Halfway house - also called recovery house or sober house - is a place to allow people to begin the process of reintegration
with society while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or  
relapse when compared to a   release directly into society.

Rehabilitation - it came from latin word "habilis" literally fit or suitable. Its meaning was expanded to mean "restore to
sound operation" or "to establish the good reputation".
                                                                                      
Solitary confinement - is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated fro any human contact, though often
with the exception of members of prison staff.

Jail Prison

 a place of detention; a place  a place of long term

where a person convicted or confinement for those
suspected of a crime is convicted of serious crimes.
detained.  Bureau of Corrections
 BJMP  DOJ
 DILG  holds people convicted of
 holds people awaiting trial crimes;sentenced for a
and people sentenced for a longer term.
short duration.

Zebulon Reed Brockway - regarded as the father of prison reform in the United States. Believed that the primary reason to
have a prisoner in custody was to rehabilitate and not simply to punish. Warden at the Elmira reformatory from 1876 to
1900. He introduced the following:

1. a program of education
2. training in useful trades
3. physical activity
4. indeterminate sentence
5. inmate classification
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6. incentive program.

Alexander Maconochie - (1787 -1860) - a Scottish naval officer, geographer and penal reformer. His two basic principle of
penology were that:

1. as cruelty debases both the victim and society, punishment should not be vindictive but should aim at the reform of
the convict to observe social constraints.
2. a convicts imprisonment should consist of task, not time sentences with release depending on the performance of a
measurable amount of labor.

Modern Form/Method  of Punishment

1. Execution - for capital offenses. ex. death by lethal injection

2. Imprisonment/Incarceration
3. Fines
4. Probation and Parole
5. House Arrest - is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually
restricted if allowed at all.

Ancient Form/Method of Punishment

1. shame punishment
2. exile/banishment
3. payment to the victim
4. branding - (Stigmatizing) - is the process by which a mark is burned into the skin of a living person.
5. flogging - (flagellation) - is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body.
6. mutilation - (maiming) - is the act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body
usually without causing death.
7. burning
8. beheading
9. torture

* In the Philippines so far, 17 persons were executed

   by hanging, 84 persons were executed by electric
   chair, 7 persons were executed by lethal injection.

* Majority of inmates confined in national prison did

   not finish high school, 6% never went to school or
   were illiterate and 3% earned a college degree.
Probation Law of the Philippines PD 968
What is Probation? ans.- is a disposition under which a defendant after conviction and sentence is released subject to
conditions imposed by the court and to the supervision of a probation officer.
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Who can apply for Probation? ans. any first time convicted offender who is 18 years old or above.

Is probation a right? ans. no, it is a mere privilege for adult offenders. Under RA 9344 (Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of
2006) a child in conflict with the law (CICL) is granted the right to probation as an alternative to imprisonment if qualified
under the Probation law.

Where shall an application for Probation be filed? ans. the application shall be filed with the court that tried and sentenced
the offender.

What will happen if the application for Probation is denied? ans. the offender will be sent by the sentencing court to
prison to serve his sentence.

When should an application for Probation be filed? ans. anytime before the offender starts serving his sentence but within
15 days from the promulgation of notice of judgment of conviction. Under section 42 of RA 9344, The Juvenile Justice and
Welfare Act of 2006, the court may after it shall have  sentenced a child in conflict with the law and upon application at
anytime placed the child on probation in lieu of service of his sentence.

May an offender be released from confinement while his application for Probation is pending? ans. yes, the applicant may
be released under the bail he filed in the criminal case or under recognizance.

How many times can one be granted Probation? ans. only once.

RULES ON GRANT OF PROBATION

1. After having convicted and sentenced a defendant, the trial court may suspend the execution of the sentence and
place the defendant on probation, upon application by the defendant within the period for perfecting an appeal.
2. Probation may be granted whether the sentenced imposed a a term of imprisonment or fine only.
3. No application for probation shall be entertained or granted if the defendant has perfected an appeal.
4. Filing of application for probation operate as a waiver of the right to appeal.
5. The order granting or denying probation shall not be appealable.
6. Accessory penalties are deemed suspended once probation is granted.
7. The convict is not immediately put on probation. There shall be a prior investigation by the probation officer and a
determination by the court.

 
Will Probation be automatically granted to one whose sentence is 6 years or less? ans. no, the applicant may be denied by
the court if:
1. The offender would be better rehabilitated if he/
    she is sent to prison to serve his/her sentence.
2. There is undue risk that the offender will likely
    commit another crime.
3. Probation will depreciate the seriousness of the
    offense committed.

  Under section 70 of RA 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the court may in its discretion,
placed the accused under probation even if the sentence provided under section 11 of the act is higher than that
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provided under the probation law.

What will happen if a probationer violates the conditions of probation? ans.

1. The court may modify the conditions of probation
    or revoke the same.
2. If the violation is serious, the court may order the
    probationer  to serve his prison sentence.
3. The probationer may also be arrested and criminally
    prosecuted if the violation is a criminal offense.

   The court order  shall not be subject to appeal.

 Probation is not coterminous with its period. There must be an order issued
 by the court discharging the probationer. Upon 
 finding that he has fulfilled  the terms and conditions of his probation, the court may order the final discharge of
the probationer.
This shall have the following effects:
       a. case is deemed terminated.
       b. all civil rights suspended or lost are
            restored.          

                 c. offender's liability for any fine imposed is

                     discharged.

Who are disqualified from the benefits of probation: ans.                                                        

1. Those sentenced to serve a prison term of more 6 years.
2. Those convicted of any crime against the national
    or the public order.
3. Those previously convicted of an offense which is
    punished by imprisonment of not less that one
    month and one day imprisonment and/or a fine of
    not less than P200.
4. Those who have been  placed on probation once.
5. Those serving sentence.
6. Those whose conviction is on appeal.
7. Those convicted of an offense against the omnibus
    election code, insurgency law, wage rationalization
    act.

There are two kinds of conditions imposed upon the offender under  probation:
 
1. Mandatory or general – once violated, the 
    probation is cancelled.
      1) To report to the probation officer within 72
           hours after he receives the order of the court
           granting probation.
      2) To report to his probation officer at least once a
           month.
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      3) not to commit any other offense while on

          probation.
     
2. Discretionary or special – additional conditions  
    which the court may additionally impose for the
    probationer’s correction and rehabilitation outside      prison. The enumeration is not exclusive, as long 
    as the probationer’s Constitutional rights are not  
    jeopardized.
     

How long is the period of probation? ans.

1. not more than 2 years if the sentence of the
    offender is 1 year or less.
2. not more than 6 years if the sentence is more than
    one year.
3. When the penalty is a fine only and the offender   
    is made to serve subsidiary imprisonment, probation shall be twice the total number of days of subsidiary
    imprisonment

What is Parole? ans. it is the release of a prisoner from prison after serving the minimum period of his
indeterminate sentence.

Who can not be granted parole? ans. generally, those sentenced to a term of imprisonment of one year
or less or to a straight penalty or to a prison sentence  without a minimum term of imprisonment.
Who may grant parole to a prisoner? ans. the board of pardon and parole, an agency under the
Department of Justice.

When may a prisoner be granted parole? ans. whenever the board of pardon and parole finds that there
is a reasonable probability that if released, the prisoner will be law abiding and that his release will not be
incompatible with the interest and welfare of society and when a prisoner has already served the minimum
penalty of his/her indeterminate sentence of imprisonment.

What happens if a parolee violates the conditions of his parole? ans. he shall be rearrested and
recommitted or returned to prison to served the unexpired portion of the maximum period of his sentence.

What is executive clemency? ans. it refers to the commutation of sentence, conditional pardon and
absolute pardon may be granted by the president upon recommendation of the board.

What is commutation of sentence? ans.  it is the reduction of the period of a prison sentence.

What is conditional pardon? ans. it is the conditional exception of a guilty offender for the punishment
imposed by a court.

What is absolute pardon? ans. it is the total extinction of the criminal liability of the individual to whom it
is granted without any condition whatsoever resulting to the full restoration of  his civil rights.

Who may file a petition for conditional pardon? ans. a prisoner who has served at least one half of the
maximum of the original indeterminate and/or definite prison term.

Who may grant commutation of sentence and pardon? ans. the president.

Who may file a petition for commutation of sentence?

ans.  the board may review the petition of a prisoner
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for commutation of sentence if he/she meets the following minimum requirement:

  at least 1/2 ( one half) of the minimum of his indeterminate and/or definite prison term or the
aggregate minimum of his determinate and/or prison terms.
 at least 10 years for prisoners sentenced to one reclusion perpetua or one life imprisonment, for
crimes/offenses not punishable under RA 7659 and other special law.
 at least 12 years for prisoners whose sentences were adjusted to 40 years in accordance with the
provisions of article 70 of the RPC as amended.
 at least 15 years for prisoners convicted of heinous crimes as defined in RA 7659 committed on or
after January 1, 1994 and sentenced to one reclusion perpetua or one life imprisonment.
 at least 17 years for prisoners sentenced to 2 or more reclusion perpetua of life imprisonment even if
their sentences were adjusted to 40 years in accordance  with the provision of article  70 of the RPC
as amended.
 at least 20 years for those sentenced to death which was automatically commuted or reduced to
reclusion perpetua.

Who may file a petition for absolute pardon? ans. one may file a petition for absolute pardon if he had
served his maximum sentence or granted final release and discharge or court termination of probation.

Is a prisoner who is released on parole or conditional pardon with parole conditions placed under
supervision? ans. yes, the prisoner is placed under the supervision of a probation and parole officer.

PD 968 - Probation law of 1976 - this is the title of the decree/law. It took effect July 24, 1976.

Purpose of the law

1. promote the correction and rehabilitation of an offender by providing him with individualized
treatment.
2. provide an opportunity for the reformation of a penitent offender which might be less probable if he
were to serve a prison sentence.
3. prevent the commission of offenses.

Probationer - a person placed on probation.

Probation officer - one who investigates for the court a referral for probation or supervises a probationer
or both.

  The Probation administration shall be headed by the Probation administrator who shall be appointed
by the president of the Philippines.
 There shall be an assistant probation administrator who shall assist the administrator perform such
duties as may be assigned to him by the latter and as may be provided by law.

Qualifications of the Administrator and Assistant Probation Administrator.

1.  at least 35 years of age

2. holder of a masters degree or its equivalent in either criminology, social work, corrections, penology,
psychology, sociology, public administration, law, police science, police administration or related
field.
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3. at least 5 years of supervisory experience or be a member of the Philippine bar with at least 7 years
of supervisory experience. 

Regional Probation officer and Assistant regional Probation Officer - appointed by the president
upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Justice.

Provincial and City Probation officer - appointed by the Secretary of justice upon the recommendation
of the administrator and in accordance with civil service law and rules.

Qualifications of Regional, Assistant Regional, Provincial and City Probation officers.

1. Bachelors degree with a major in social work, sociology, psychology, criminology, penology,
corrections, police science, administration or related fields.
2. at least 3 years in work requiring any of the above mentioned disciplines or is a member of the
Philippine bar with at least 3 years of supervisory experience.

 when practicable, the provincial or city probation officer shall be appointed from among qualified
residents of the province or city where he will be assigned to work.