Chapter 1

Introduction to Correction

Correction

It is Branch of the administration of Criminal Justice Charged with the

responsibility for the custody, supervision, and rehabilitation of those who judicially
found violated criminal law.

"Corrections" is also the name of a field of academic study concerned with the
theories, policies, and programs pertaining to the practice of corrections. Its object of
study includes personnel training and management as well as the experiences of those
on the other side of the fence — the unwilling subjects of the correctional process.

Correction is in a view of reorientation or re-instruction of the individual with a

purpose of preventing a repetition of the unlawful activities without necessity of taking
punitive action.

Correction as component of Criminal Justice System

In Criminal Justice System, the term correction, corrections and correctional, are
words describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies,
and involving the punishment, treatment, and supervision of persons who have been
convicted of crimes, these functions commonly given through institutional and non-
institutional approaches.

The terminology changes in US academia from "penology" to "corrections"

occurred in the 1950s and 1960s which was driven by a new philosophy
emphasizing rehabilitation. It was accompanied by concrete changes in some prisons,
like giving more privileges to inmates, and attempting to instill a more communal
atmosphere. At least nominally, most prisons became "correctional institutions", and
guards became "correctional officers". Although the corrections-related terminology
continued thereafter in US correctional practice, the philosophical view on offenders'
treatment took an opposite turn in the 1980s, when academics labeled the "get
tough" program was labelled by academics as "The New Penology”

Penology

It is referred to as PENAL SCIENCE, Penology is the division of

criminology that focus with the philosophy and practice of society, in its efforts to
repress criminal activities.
Derived from the Latin word “POENA”, which means “PAIN” or suffering,
penology has stood in the past, and for the most part of the policy of inflicting
punishment on the offender as a consequence of his violations of criminal.

But it may reasonably be extended to cover other policies, not punitive in

character, such as probation, medical treatment, and education, aimed at the cure or
rehabilitation of the offender; and this is, in fact, the accepted present sense of the term.

The principal aims of penal science are:

 to bring to light the ethical bases of punishment, along with the motives and
purposes of society in inflicting it;
 to make a comparative study of penal laws and procedures through history and
between nations; and,
 to evaluate the social consequences of the policies in force at a given time.

Thus conceived, penology represents a grouping of studies, some of which, dealing

with the aims and the moral or social justifications of punishment, date from a remote
past, while others, having to do with the wider social implications of the system, have
scarcely yet made a beginning.

Two Approaches of Correction

1. Institutional Correction (Institution-Based Correction) - rehabilitation or

correctional programs take place inside correctional facilities or institutions such
as national penitentiaries and jails.

2. Non-Institutional Correction (Community- Based Correction) – rehabilitation

or correctional programs take place within the community. This is otherwise
referring to as the community-based correction. In this approach the convict will
not be placed or be released from correctional facility or jails.

2.1 Community- Based Correction Programs

a. Probation- 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.
b. Parole- It is the conditional release of a prisoner from correctional
institution after serving the minimum period of prison sentence.
c. Pardon - A form of executive clemency which is exercise exclusively by
the Chief Executive. Pardon may be given conditionally (conditional
pardon) or unconditionally (absolute pardon). For the purpose of Non-
Institutional Correction, it is the Conditional Pardon with parole conditions
Agencies of the government charged with correctional responsibility

1. Bureau of Correction (BuCor)

2. Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)
3. Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP)
4. Parole and Probation Administration (PPA)
5. Provincial and Sub-provincial Jails.

It should be remembered that the adult Criminal Justice System is not applicable
to minors instead it should be Juvenile Justice System under RA 9344 as amended.

Imprisonment

is the act of confinement of a person in prison; restraint of one’s personal liberty;

forcible detention of a man’s person or his movements.

Constitutional Limitation of the Government to Punish Criminals

Legal Rights against unlawful imprisonment or Detention

One of the most protected rights an individual is his right to liberty this is
expressly provide for under Article 3, Section 1 of 1987 Constitution, which states “No
person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law,
nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.” Considering that
the Constitution is not a self-executing law, the Revised Penal Code provide
punishment not only to public officers violating this constitutional right of an individual,
but also private persons as well.

Arbitrary Detention and Illegal Detention

Arbitrary or unlawful detention occurs when an individual is arrested and

detained by a public officer without due process and without the legal protections of a
fair trial, or when an individual is detained without any legal basis for the deprivation of
liberty.

While in Illegal Detention the unlawful detention of an individual was committed

by a private person.

What are the elements of the crime of arbitrary detention?

1. Offender is a public officer or employee

2. He detains a person
3. Detention is without legal grounds.
When is a person considered in detention?

A person is detained when he is placed in confinement or there is restraint on his

person.

When is detention said to be without legal grounds?

The detention of a person is without legal ground:

1. When he has not committed any crime or, at least, there is no reasonable ground for
suspicion that he has committed a crime.

EXCEPTION: A valid warrantless arrest (Sec.5, Rule 113, Revised Rules of Court).
2. When he is not suffering from violent insanity or any other ailment requiring

Considered Legal Grounds for Detention of any person

1. Commission of the crime

2. Violent insanity or any other ailment requiring compulsory confinement in a
hospital

Note: Under the government exercise of police power, those persons who are infected
of contagious diseases may likewise be separated to the rest of the population

Inmate

Is a person committed to jail/ prison by a competent court or authority for any of

the following reasons;

1. To serve a sentence after conviction

2. Under trial
3. Under investigation

General Category of Inmates

1. Sentenced Prisoner(prisoner) - are persons who are convicted by final

judgment of the crime charged against them.
2. Detention Prisoner (detainee)– are persons who are detained for the
violation of law or ordinance and has not yet been convicted; and
3. Persons held for investigation or safekeeping

Safekeeping- is the temporary custody of persons of detention of a person for his own
protection or care, to secure from liability to harm, injury or damage.

When Judgment of Conviction in Criminal Case becomes Final

 After the lapse of the period for perfecting an appeal which is fifteen days;
 When the sentence has been partially or totally satisfied or totally satisfied
or served;
 When the accused expressly waives in writing his right to appeal; and or
 When the accused applies for probation

Classification of Sentenced Prisoners

Base on the duration of Imprisonment

1. Insular Prisoner- is a person who is sentenced to serve a prison term of over

three (3) years and known as National Prisoner
2. Provincial Prisoner - one who is sentenced to a prison term of six (6) months
and one (1) day to three (3) years.
3. City prisoner- is a person who is sentenced to serve a prison term of one day to
three (3) years

Inmates Security Classification

The inmate’s security classification utilized by the BJMP is different from what is
being use by the BuCor.

BJMP INMATES SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

a. High Profile Inmate - those who require increased security based on intense media
coverage or public concern because of their offense such as but not limited to those
who have been involved in a highly controversial or sensationalized crime or those who
became prominent for being a politician, government official, multi-million entrepreneur,
religious or cause-oriented group leader and movie or television personality.

b. High Risk Inmate - those who are considered highly dangerous and who require a
greater degree of security, control and supervision because of their deemed capability
of escape, of being rescued, and their ability to launch or spearhead acts of violence
inside the jail. This includes those charged with heinous crimes such as murder,
kidnapping for ransom, economic sabotage, syndicated or organized crimes, etc. Also
included are inmates with military or police trainings or those whose life is in danger or
under imminent threat.

c. High Value Target (HVT) - a target, either a resource or a person, who may either be
an enemy combatant, high ranking official or a civilian in danger of capture or death,
typically in possession of critical intelligence, data, or authority marked as an objective
for a mission and which a commander requires for the successful completion of the
same.

d. Security Threat Group - any formal or informal ongoing inmates’ group, gang,
organization, or association consisting of three or more members falling into one of the
following basic categories: street gangs, prison gangs, outlaw gangs, traditional
organized crime, aboriginal gangs, subversive groups, and terrorist organizations.

e. Subversive Group - a group of persons that adopts or advocates subversive

principles or policies tending to overthrow or undermine an established government.

f. Terrorist Group - a group of persons that commits any of the following: piracy and
mutiny in the high seas or in the Philippine waters, rebellion or insurrection, coup d’état,
murder, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, crimes involving destruction, arson,
hijacking, violation of laws on toxic substances and hazardous and nuclear waste
control, violations of atomic energy regulations, anti-piracy and anti-highway robbery,
illegal and unlawful possession, manufacture, dealing in, acquisition or disposition of
firearms, ammunitions or explosives.

g. Violent Extremist Offender (VEO) - a person whose political or religious ideologies

are considered far outside the mainstream attitudes of the society or who violates
common moral standards and who has adopted an increasingly extreme ideals and
aspirations resorting to the employment of violence in the furtherance of his/her beliefs.

h. Medium Risk Inmates -those who represent a moderate risk to the public and staff.
These inmates still require greater security, control, and supervision as they might
escape from and might commit violence inside the jail.

i. Minimum Risk Inmates (Ordinary Inmates) - those inmates who have lesser
tendencies to commit offenses and generally pose the least risk to public safety. In most
cases, they may be first time offenders and are charged with light offenses.

Bureau of Correction Inmates Security Classification

Maximum Security – This includes highly dangerous or high security risk inmates as
determined by the Classification Board. Under this category belong:
o Those sentenced to death
o Those whose minimum sentence is twenty (20) years.
o Remand prisoners whose sentence is twenty years and above and those whose
sentences are under review by the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals
o Those with pending cases
o Recidivists, habitual delinquents, and escapees
o Those confined at the Reception and Diagnostic Center
o Those under disciplinary punishment or safekeeping
o Those who are certified as criminally insane or those with severe personality or
emotional disorders.

Medium Security

o Those who are below twenty years

o Those who are 18 years of age and below, regardless of the case and sentence
o Those who have two (2) or more records of escape, if they have served eight (8)
years since they were recommitted. Those with one record of escape must have
served five years to be reclassified to medium security
o First offenders sentenced to life imprisonment, if they have served five (5) years
in maximum security. It does not include those who have served in local jails by
way of detention.

Minimum Security – Those reasonably trusted to serve their penalty under less
restricted conditions. It includes the following:

o Those with severe physical handicap, as certified by the Chief Medical Officer of
the institution.
o Those who are 65 years old and above who are without a pending case and
whose convictions are not on appeal
o Those who have served one-half of their minimum sentence or one-third of their
maximum sentence, excluding Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA)
o Those who have only six (6) months more to serve before the expiration of their
maximum sentence

References:

Guerrero, Brian and Molato, Morith: Institutional Correction, Quezon City, Wiseman’s
Books Trading, Inc., 2017,
Manwong, Rommel: Corrections and Restorative Justice, Quezon City, Wiseman’s
Books Trading, Inc., 2014
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrections
https:// www.google.com
1987 Constitution, Article III, Bill of Rights Article 124, Revised Penal Code