14-YEAR TRAVAIL: Parole and probation office understaffed

By: Ericka Marie Banting and Esther Abegale Cinco

The Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) of Region 6 has been suffering from lack of manpower in the past 14 years.

The office has been lobbying since 2005 for the opening of additional positions to meet growing caseloads.

The PPA is an agency the Department of Justice responsible for providing a less costly alternative to imprisonment of first-time offenders who are likely to respond to individualized community-based treatment programs.

Under the Probation Law of 1976, PPA is mandated to:

• Promote the correction and rehabilitation of an offender by providing him with individualized treatment;
• Provide an opportunity for the reformation of a penitent offender which might be less probable if he were to serve a prison sentence; and
• Prevent the commission of offenses.

PPA Regional Director Charito A. Zamora said, “Despite the inclusion of additional positions in the Agency’s annual budget proposal, the same has not yet been acted upon by the National Government as it needs a congressional legislation.”

Once approved by the Congress and Senate, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will allocate budget for them to open additional positions.

Currently, the PPA regional office only has 11 employees including the regional director.

Zamora explained that for the office to function effectively and efficiently, there should be at least 15 employees for each unit.

Because of the staff shortage, the employees handle more than five committees when they are supposedly handling only three to five.

“May ara kami nga mga offices nga one-man team lang siya – siya ang chief of office, investigator, supervisor, and clerk,” assistant district attorney and personnel officer Joely A. Develles said.

At the field office, Parole and Probation Officers (PPOs) handle an average of 100 to 200 cases, both investigation and supervision.

The resurgent war on drugs also increased the PPA’s caseload.

“Currently, tungod sa drug cases nagdamo pa gid ang amon cases nga gina-handle,” Develles added.

In order to keep up with the workload, the employees resort to multi-tasking.

“Halos tanan ga multi-task kay understaffed. So amo na gid ang one of the best ways to keep up. Dapat, as an employee, kabalo ka tapuson ang ubra in a short amount of time,” Develles said.

Zamora explained that this results in work back logs and strains the health of employees.

“May ara kami mga personnel nga gakamasakit na ya kay kon mag-investigate, masaka sa bukid, pila pa kabilog ang interview-hon mo sa community nila para maubrahan mo isa ka report,” Develles added.

The regional office has resorted to hiring job orders and volunteers. They also utilized local government units’ hired staff to assist in office operation.

“May ara kami mga job orders and volunteers, they work with us. Wala na sila may gina-baton nga financial reward halin sa amon. Mostly, sila na ang mga retired nga tawo so ga-assist sila sa amon. Sila ang nagiging speaker sa rehabilitation and naga-bulig sila sa office,” Develles said.

Despite the lack of manpower, the office has managed to accomplish 99.32% of the number of investigation cases it handled as of October 2019, according to the statistics of the agency’s performance.

Develles said the staff shortage is only a challenge.

“Ang challenges, if you look at it in a bad way, di ka mag-grow sa imo career, indi ka mangin happy kag indi ka mag-stay long sa office. Siguro, amo na halin sang 2010 ari man ko di giyapon kay gina lantaw ko ang challenges as part of growth. Ga-learn ka on your own and ga-take ka initiative to do things aside from what you are only supposed to do,” Develles added.