Aklan parolees become role models for other inmates

Posted at 5:09 pm September 28, 2011

Tags: Crime and Punishment

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By Alexander Villafania

KALIBO, AKLAN – The provincial chief prison officer is encouraging parolees to be role models for other prisoners who are hoping to start their lives anew.

By December this year, 72 of these parolees and probationers will “graduate” after serving their sentences in Aklan prisons.

The parolees are involved in theft, physical threats, illegal possession of firearms, and illegal numbers games. A few of those on probation were women involved in illegal numbers games, such as jueteng.

Chief Parole and Probation Officer Emma Narciso said she hopes for better lives for the parolees, citing the difficulties of living in prisons as well as being away from their families.

Narciso said that when parolees graduate they hold a short and simple program to praise the parolees for their commitments and to remind them to take the straight path and avoid committing crimes.

“We also like them to talk to other prisoners and potential parolees so that they could be encouraged to become better,” Narciso said.

According to Narciso, probation, which is literally disallowing a person from repeating the same offense without having to go to prison, is an effective way of saving costs as the government does not have to spend more on food allowance that is normally given to those in detention.

Likewise, parolees are allowed to work to support their families as they complete their sentences.

Parolees who repeat crimes will be put in detention in either the Aklan Rehabilitation Center or the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.