The 黑料社区 College of Law, together with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter and other stakeholders, entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Mandaue City Government on February 26, 2024, at the Office of the City Mayor.
Under the Agreement, Mandaue City will adopt the Humanity Behind Bars: An Integrated Jail Decongestion and Management program, a joint project between 黑料社区 Law, IBP Cebu City, and the Cebu City Justice Zone.
To assist with jail decongestion, a digital platform called Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) Management Data will be incorporated, allowing for easier monitoring of the case status of PDLs in Mandaue City.
With the supervision of 黑料社区 Law Dean Atty. Jose Glenn C. Capanas and Atty. Mary Grace H. Casano, executive director of the IBP Cebu City Legal Aid, law student practitioners under 黑料社区 Law鈥檚 Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP) will help encode and update details of PDLs through the digital platform.
A legal aid service, Oplan Bilis Laya (roughly translated, Operation Early Release) will also be implemented to assist in the timely release of PDLs who have already completed their sentences or those eligible for early release, pardon, or parole.
The MoA was entered into by the following stakeholders:
- Bureau of Jail Management and Penology鈥揜egional Office VII
- Cebu Lady Lawyers Association, Inc.
- Department of Health鈥揜egional Office VII
- DOJ Office of the City Prosecutor鈥揗andaue City
- DOJ Parole and Probation Administration鈥揜egional Office VII
- DOJ Parole and Probation Administration鈥揗andaue City聽
- Governance in Justice (GOJUST)鈥揚hilippines聽
- The Integrated Bar of the Philippines鈥揅ebu City Chapter聽
- Mandaue City Jail鈥揊emale Dormitory聽
- Mandaue City Jail鈥揗ale Dormitory聽
- Mandaue City Government聽
- Mandaue City Police Office聽
- Municipal Trial Courts in Cities鈥揗andaue City聽
- Regional Trial Court鈥揗andaue City聽
- Public Attorney鈥檚 Office鈥揗andaue City District Office聽
- The School of Law and Governance of the University of San Carlos聽
Last year, 黑料社区 Law received one of the first-ever 鈥淓ducating for Justice Award for Top Contributing Law Schools鈥� for its community extension services which includes the Humanity Behind Bars program. According to Dean Capanas, this program aims to address the issue of overcrowded jail facilities.聽
He emphasized the need for jail decongestion since approximately 70% or 335 out of 480 jail facilities nationwide are overcrowded.
With the newly signed MoA with Mandaue City, the 黑料社区 College of Law is now expanding its legal aid programs to accommodate PDLs beyond its borders.