THE Teambayayong Stakeholders' Summit 2024, organized by the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) Region VII, gathered on Thursday, July 18, 2024, community partners, volunteers, and government agencies to discuss strategies for enhancing community-based treatment programs and supporting the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders in Central Visayas.
The summit aimed to foster collaboration, share best practices, and explore new initiatives to address the unique challenges faced by the region's probation and parole system.
Key accomplishments presented by Regional Director Rosana Solite revealed that as of December 2023, there were 22,968 pending investigation referrals (including case backlogs since 2017) and 26,001 supervision cases for the CY 2023, supported by a team of only 41 investigating officers as of December 2023.
Solite also presented the 2023 Performance Region VII (Output-Outcome Indicator) report, which showed that the region has been very successful in helping people stay on track with their probation or parole.
The report noted a 100 percent success rate in court-supported probation and supervision recommendations, 92.52 percent client compliance with terms and conditions, and 100 percent participation in rehabilitation programs.
However, the report als revealed a significant backlog of investigation reports, with only 18.36 percent submitted on time compared to the 65 percent target.
Challenges were also highlighted during the event, including an extremely unmanageable caseload, an influx of supervised clients, and a significant decrease in the number of probation officers over the years, delayed records check results, incomplete documents of petitioners for probation, and difficulty locating petitioners for probation.
The event concluded with closing remarks by Antonnete Baldonado of the Cebu City Police Office who emphasized the importance of continued collaboration and innovation in improving the region's probation and parole efforts. (Jobeth Dick Husay and Stephanie Joy Famoso, NWSSU interns)