Parole office clarifies role in executive clemency

This has reference to the news article titled “De Lima: P-Noy has list of convicts to be pardoned” (News, 1/12/15).

May we clarify that it is the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) that reviews applications for parole or conditional pardon and recommends to the president of the Philippines the prisoners who are qualified for executive clemency, not the Pardons and Parole Administration.

Also, the official name of our office is Parole and Probation Administration (PPA), not Pardons and Parole Administration. The BPP is a collegial body created by virtue of Republic Act No. 4103 (Indeterminate Sentence Law), as amended, with the duty to look into the physical, mental and criminal record of all prisoners eligible for parole and to determine the proper time for the release of those prisoners. Likewise, pursuant to Executive Order No. 83, dated Jan. 11, 1937, this board is mandated to assist the president of the country in exercising the power of executive clemency by recommending those who could be granted commutation of sentence, conditional pardon, absolute pardon and other forms of executive clemency.

On the other hand, the PPA is an attached agency of the Department of Justice whose primary mandate is to administer the probation and parole system in the country—which authority is drawn from Presidential Decree No. 968, as amended by EO No. 292 (Administrative Code of 1987). Specifically, its functions is to investigate applicants, referred by the courts, for probation and to assist the BPP through the conduct of pre-parole/pre-executive clemency investigation to help the board in determining the prisoners to be granted parole and to recommend to the president the appropriate form of executive clemency for them.

Those granted release through parole or conditional pardon will be under the supervision and rehabilitation of a PPA officer. The supervision of parolees and conditional pardonees is the primary responsibility of the PPA. Likewise, by virtue of EO 154, as amended, the PPA administrator is an ex-officio member of the BPP.

May we also clarify that the BPP is a DOJ office directly under the Office of the Secretary of Justice, while the PPA is an attached agency of the DOJ.

—ELANI C. LAYAOEN,

head, Public Information Section,

Parole and Probation Administration