De Lima pushes for comprehensive prison reform bill
DETAINED Sen. Leila de Lima has filed a measure establishing prison reform and restorative justice in the country’s correctional system toward a more effective administration of justice and reintegration of inmates into society.
De Lima filed Senate Bill (SB) 2130 or the “Prison Reform Act of 2018,” to restore human dignity and reduce tendencies to break the law anew even if the offender were found guilty of committing a crime.
“This act recognizes that imprisonment is not a lifetime chain that would eternally bind prisoners in the dark,” she said. “[It will help] persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) prepare for their eventual release back in the society.”
The measure seeks to introduce rehabilitation and intervention programs based on a continuing assessment system of the inmates that will be formulated from internationally accepted methods, taking into consideration the factors that led inmates to commit crimes and those that minimize the chances of them committing new ones, shifting from the present sentence-based classification.
Institutional reforms, judicial facility and organizational are sought to be introduced and institutionalized, including an efficient system of automatic release of inmates due for release, an infrastructure plan mandating construction of at least one penal facility per region, and an offender tracking information system (OTIS) to serve as central database for PDLs.
A Reception and Diagnostics Center shall be created within each penal facility to set up a continuing assessment of inmates during their imprisonment and classify them based on their risks, needs or productivity.
De Lima said that intervention programs created by an intervention office should be made available to detainees to help them gain skills that would be helpful in their eventual reintegration back into the community.
These programs include those that are designed to give them basic and advance education or provide them with technical skills, utilize their existing skills and capabilities toward administration of the penal facility or community service, or provide them continuous counseling services.
De Lima also proposed the creation of revenue generating programs for detainees by a Prison Revenue Office in every penal institution to encourage participation in the Prisoner Employment Program.
The senator also pushed for the establishment of a Job Assistance Office to handle the Post-Prison Employment Program that will raise awareness regarding available job opportunities which a prisoner may apply for upon release.
SB 2130 also pushes for the creation of a Philippine Correctional Academy and Training Institute to strengthen the capacities of those who work in correctional institutions and enhance their general welfare, commitment to service and professionalism.