Parole and Probation Administration (Philippines)

To rehabilitate and reintegrate persons on community-based corrections for peace and social justice.[2]

The Parole and Probation Administration is mandated to conserve and/or redeem convicted offenders and prisoners who are under the probation or parole system. [3]

The Administration's programs sets to achieve the following goals:

• Promote the reformation of criminal offenders and reduce the incidence of recidivism, and
• Provide a cheaper alternative to the institutional confinement of first-time offenders who are likely to respond to individualized, community-based treatment programs.

To carry out these goals, the Agency through its network of regional and field parole and probation offices performs the following functions:

• to administer the parole and probation system
• to exercise supervision over parolees, pardonees and probationers
• to promote the correction and rehabilitation of criminal offenders.

San Fernando, Pampanga

• The RESTORATIVE JUSTICE (RJ) is a philosophy and a process whereby stakeholders in a specific offense resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offense and its implications for the future. It is a victim-centered response to crime that provides opportunity for those directly affected by the crime - the victim, the offender, their families and the community - to be directly involved in responding to the harm caused by the crime. Its ultimate objective is to restore the broken relationships among stakeholders.

The Restorative Justice process provides a healing opportunity for affected parties to facilitate the recovery of the concerned parties and allow them to move on with their lives.

• The THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY (TC) is a self-help social learning treatment model used in the rehabilitation of drug offenders and other clients with behavioral problems. TC adheres to precepts of “right living” - Responsible Love and Concern; Truth and Honesty; the Here and Now; Personal Responsibility for Destiny; Social Responsibility (brother’s keeper); Moral Code; Work Ethics and Pride in Quality.

The Therapeutic Community (TC) is an environment that helps people get help while helping themselves. It operates in a similar fashion to a functional family with a hierarchical structure of older and younger members. Each member has a defined role and responsibilities for sustaining the proper functioning of the TC. There are sets of rules and community norms that members commit to live by and uphold upon entry. The primary “therapist” and teacher is the community itself, consisting of peers, staff/probation and parole officers and even Volunteer Probation Aides (VPA), who, as role models of successful personal change, serve as guides in the recovery process.

• The VOLUNTEER PROBATION ASSISTANT (VPA) PROGRAM is a strategy by which the Parole and Probation Administration may be able to generate maximum citizen participation or community involvement.

Citizens of good standing in the community may volunteer to assist the probation and parole officers in the supervision of a number of probationers, parolees and conditional pardonees in their respective communities. Since they reside in the same community as the client, they are able to usher in the reformation and rehabilitation of the clients hands-on.

In collaboration with the PPO, the VPA helps pave the way for the offender, victim and community to each heal from the harm resulting from the crime done. They can initiate a circle of support for clients and victims to prevent further crimes, thereby be participants in nation-building