PHILIPPINE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Celso S. Bravo

The Philippine Government has organized and established institutions which serve to maintainpeace and order. These institutions are responsible for preventing crimes, enforcement of laws, andapprehension and prosecution of those who violate the law. If the courts of law find them guilty ofcommitting a crime, they shall be confined in order for those people to be rehabilitated and to bereintegrated into the community as law abiding citizens.
These institutions organized by the Government have incorporated themselves in order to establisha Criminal Justice System. This system is composed of: the Law Enforcement, Prosecution, Court,Corrections and the Mobilized Community. Law Enforcement effects the arrest of those people whoviolated the law.The Prosecution considers the background to determine whether the person arrested
for violating a law should be prosecuted. The Court is the cornerstone of the system wherein it
determines whether the person charged with a criminal offence is guilty or not.
When the courts of law find an individual guilty of violating the law, a sentence shall be imposed
upon him,not to change the crimanalʼ
s attitude,but as a penalty.When a person has been proven guilty
beyond reasonable doubt,he or she must be placed in confinement for the protection ofthe criminal andfor the communityʼ
s welfare. Criminals are considered prisoners while they serve their sentences
imposed by the court for transgressing the law.
Prisoners are classified as National or Insular Prisoners, whose sentences are more than three (3)years to death and who will serve his or her sentance at the National Penitentiary.Based on the Bureauof Corrections reception procedures, female convicts will serve their sentences at the Correctional
Institution for Women at M adaluyong City,while male convicts will serve their sentences at any of thecountryʼ
s correctional institutions, namely: San Ramon Prison & Penal Farm, Zamboanga; Iwahig
Prison & Penal Farm,Palawan;Davao Prison and Penal Farm,Dajuli,Davao del Norte;New BilibidPrison, M untinlupa: Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm, Sablayan Occidental M indoro, and Leyte
Regional Prison, Leyte.
Before a convict can enter a penal institution, the convict must first undergo admission andclassification procedures.The operating manual of the Bureau of Corrections mandates the submissionof the following documents:(1)Commitment Order from the Court or Mittimus;(2)Court Decision ofthe Case;(3)Information filed by the City/Provincial Prosecutor;(4) Certificate of Detention, if any,
from the City, Provincial and/or Municipal Jail where the prisoner was previously detained.
The prisoner will then be received at the Reception and Diagnostic Center (RDC),and the prisonerʼ
sidentity will be examined through submitted photographs and fingerprints. The authenticity of thedocuments will also be carefully examined. The inmates will also be photographed and fingerprinted
by RDC staff for comparative and records purposes of the Bureau of Corrections.After the prisoner isadmitted,the prisoner will stay at the RDC for a total of sixty(60)days.The inmate will be placed firstin a quarantine cell for at least five days (5) wherein the prisoner will be medically examined todetermine illness and, if found to have infectious or contagious diseases, he shall be immediately
confined in the hospital until his recovery.After the quarantine,the inmate shall remain at the RDC fora period not exceeding fifty-five(55)days,wherein the inmate shall undergo orientation of prison rules
and regulations, the condition of prison life, and institutional programmes for their early release. A
staff interview will be conducted by the Psychiatrist, Sociologist, Educational Counselor, Vocational
Officer‑In‑Charge, Medium Security Compound, Bureau of Corrections, Department of Justice, the Philippines.

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Counselor, Chaplain, M edical Officer, and Custodial or Correctional Officer. All the facts and data
gathered during the staff interviews will be used as the basis for classification,diagnosis,and planningfor the treatment programme ofthe prisoner.After the staffinterview,a StaffConference will be called
for the purpose of discussing the treatment programme of the prisoner,and the inmate will be informed
about their findings and recommendation for his rehabilitative programme.
An admission Summary will be submitted by the RDC to the penal superintendent which contains
the legal accountabilities of the case of the prisoner,criminal history,social history,physical history,
vocational interest, competence, experience and training, educational qualification, religious background and interests,recreational interests,psychological characteristics and other behavioural characteristics.The recommended treatment programme will also be attached,which will serve as a guidein the execution of the treatment programme at the operating institution. All of these things will besubmitted bythe RDC to the Penal Superintendent and to the operating institution to which the prisoner
may later belong.
The operating institution is the actual cell assignment where the prisoner shall be placed.Before theinmate can enter the operating institution, he or she shall first be classified as to what security
classification he or she belongs. All information about the convict and the result of the examinations
conducted will be used by the Classification Board for the security classification of the prisoner.Theclassification board is composed of the following:the Penal Superintendent as Chairman;The Chief ofthe Reception and Diagnostic Center as Vice-Chairman;the NBP Medical Officer,the Chief Education
Section, the Chief Agro-Industries Section as members and the Chief Overseer of the Penal Colony as
Secretary.The Chief of Agri-Industriesʼrole in the classification process is to ascertain whether work
programmes granted to inmates are viable considering their security statuses.
The prisoners are classified in the operating institution into maximum-security offenders,medium
security offenders, and minimum-security offenders. The purposes for the classification of offenders
are:1)To separate offenders who by reason of their criminal record or derogatory character are likely
to exercise a bad influence on other offenders;2)To separate offenders who bygravityoftheir offences
have been sentenced to longer periods of imprisonment and therefore require a more secure facility;and 3)To divide and segregate the offenders into classes to facilitate their rehabilitative treatment.
M aximum-security offenders include offenders who are highly dangerous as determined by theClassification Board,which requires a high degree of control and supervision.Under this category arethose:(1)sentenced to death,(2)those whose minimum sentence is 20-years,imprisonment,(3)remand
inmates or those inmates whose cases are still under review by the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals
and inmates whose sentences are over 20 years, (4)those with pending cases, (5)recidivists, habitualdelinquents, escapees, (6) those confined at the Reception and Diagnostic Center, (7) those underdisciplinary punishment or safe keeping, and (8) those who are criminally insane or those sufferingfrom severe personality or emotional disorders that make them dangerous to fellow inmates and prison
staff.
M edium-security offenders are those who cannot be trusted in less secured areas and whose conduct
or behaviour requires minimum supervision. Under this category are: (1) those whose minimum
sentences are less than 20 yearsʼimprisonment;(2)remand inmates or detainees whose sentences are
below 20 years, (3)those who are 18 years of age and below, regardless of the case and sentence, (4)those who have two or more records of escapes (they can be classified as medium security inmates ifthey have served eight years in the maximum-security camp after they were recommitted;those with
one record of escape must have served five years in the maximum-security camp), (5) first-timeoffenders sentenced to life imprisonment (they may be classified as medium security iftheyhave served
five years or less in a maximum-security prison, upon recommendation of the Superintendent;thosewho were detained in a City and/or Provincial Jail for five years are not entitled to said classification).
M inimum-security offenders are those who can be reasonably trusted to serve their sentences underless restricted conditions.Under this category are:(1)those with a severe physical handicap as certified
by the chief medical officer of the prison, (2) those who are sixty-five years old and above, without
pending cases and whose convictions are not on appeal,(3)those who have served one-half(1/2)oftheir161

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minimum sentence or one-third (1/3) of their maximum sentence, excluding the Good Conduct Time
Allowance(GCTA),and (4)those who have only six months more to serve before the expiration oftheirmaximum sentence.

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