THE NATURE OF PROBATION IN
THE PHILIPPINES
LESSON II
PROBATION- A disposition under
which a defendant, after conviction and
sentence,is released subject to condition
imposed by the court and the
supervision of probation officer.
PROBATION- A privilege
granted by the court to a person
convicted of a criminal offense to
remain in the community instead
of actually going to prison/jail
REPUBLIC ACT 10707
SECTION 1. Section 4 of PD 968 as
amended, is hereby further
amended to read as follows:
Sec 4. Grant of Probation.- Subject to the provisions of this
Decree, the TRIAL COURT may, after it shall have convicted
and sentenced a defendant for probationable penalty and
upon application by said defendant within the period for
perfecting an appeal, suspend the execution of the
sentence and place the defendant on probation for such
period and upon such terms and conditions as it may
deem best. No application for probation shall be
entertained or granted if the defendant has perfected the
appeal from the judgement of conviction;
The trial court shall, upom receipt of the
application filed, suspends the execution of
the sentence imposed in the judgement
“This is notwithstanding, the accused shall
lose the benefit of probation should he seek
a review of the modified decision which
already imposes a probationable penalty.
“Probation may be granted whether the
sentence imposes a term of imprisonment
or fine only. The filing of the application
shall be deemed a waiver of the right to
appeal
“An order granting or denying probation
shall not be appealable”
The probation officer shall submit
to the court the investigation
report on a defendant not later
than sixty days from receipt of
the order of said court to conduct
the investigation
The court shall resolve the
petition for probation not
later than fifteen days after
receipt of said report
Section8. Criteria for Placing
an Offender on Probation.
Probation shall be denied if
the court finds that
[Link] offender is need of
Correctional Treatment that
can be provided most
effectively by his commitment
to an institution
B. There is Undue risk that
during the period of
probation the offender will
commit another crime
• Probation will Depreciate the seriousness
of the offense committed.
Section 2. Republic Act 10707-
Disqualification
A. Sentenced to serve a maximum
term of imprisonment of more than
six years
B. Convicted of any Crime Against the
National Security
C. Who have previously been
convicted by final judgement of an
offense punished by “imprisonment of
more than six months and one day”
D. A fine of more than one
thousand pesos(1,000.00)
E. Who have been once on
probation under the provisions
of this Decree
[Link] are already serving
sentence at the time the
substantive provisions of this
Decree became applicable
pursuant to Sec. 33 hereof.
Violation of the following shall
disqualify an offender to avail of
the benefits of PD 968, as
amended
Video Gram Law( PD 1987) amended by
“Republic Act No. 9239 Optical Media Act of
2003”
Omnibus Election Code( Sec. 264 of BP 881)
Wage Rationalization Act, as
amended(RA6727)
PROBATION DEFINE
• The word probation is from the Latin
word “probatio” which means testing.
the word probation is also said to be
originated from the Latin verb “probare”
which means to prove.
• In criminal law it is a period of
supervision over an offender, ordered by
a court instead of serving time in prison.
• The Philippine Probation Law of 1976, as
enacted by Presidential Decree No. 968,
defines probation as, "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."
This decree will take effect on January 2,
1978.
TERMS TO PONDER
As used in Section 3 of PD 968 and
Section 4 of Parole and probation
administration omnibus rules on
probation methods and procedure.
The following shall, unless the context
otherwise requires, be construed thus:
Amicus Curiae – Means friend of the
court
Absconding Petitioner- a convicted
accused whose application for
probation has been given due course
by the court but fails to report to the
parole and probation office or cannot
be located within a reasonable period
of time.
Absconding Probationer- an
accused whose probation was granted
but failed to report for supervision
within the period ordered by the court
or a probationer who fails to continue
reporting for supervision and/or whose
whereabouts are unknown for a
reasonable period of time.
Defense Counsel/Counsel- lawyer of
the petitioner
Petition- application for probation
Petitioner - a convicted defendant
who files an application for probation.
Probationer - means a person placed
on probation
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
Probation Investigation - The process of
selection, diagnoses and planning with the client.
• Probation Supervision- The continuous process of
helping the client to follow through with the plans,
reevaluation and working with the client in the
process of planning his life to meet dynamic
situation.
Probation Officer - public officer like
the Chief Probation and Parole Officer
(CPPO), Supervising Probation and
Parole Officer (SPPO), Senior Probation
and Parole Officer (SrPPO), Parole and
Probation Officer II (PPOII), or Parole
and Probation Officer I (PPOI), who
investigates for the Trial Court a referral
for probation or supervises a
probationer or does both functions and
performs other necessary and related
duties and functions as directed.
Probation Office - refers either to
the Provincial or City Probation Office
directed to conduct investigation or
supervision referrals as the case may
be;
Probation Order - order of the trial
court granting probation
• Prosecutor- lawyer of the victim
Trial Court - refers to the Regional
Trial Court (RTC) of the Province or
City/Municipal Court which has
jurisdiction over the case.
Volunteerism - is a strategy by which
the parole and probation
administration may be able to
generate maximum citizen
participation or community
involvement in the overall process of
client rehabilitation.
A. ELEMENTS OF PROBATION
a. FOUR (4) ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF PROBATION
1.A post sentence investigation report which
will serve as the informational for the court’s
decision to grant or deny probation
[Link] conditional suspension of execution of
sentence by the court
[Link] of probation imposed by the court
to protect public safety and to faster the
rehabilitation and reformation of the probationer.
4. Supervision, guidance and assistance of the
offender by a probation officer
• b. ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF THE
PROBATION SYSTEM UNDER PRESIDENTIAL
DECREE NO. 968
The following are the essential elements of
the probation system under Presidential
Decree No. 968:
1. Probation is a single or one-time" affair.
2. Probation system is highly selective.
3. Persons under probation retain their civil
rights, like the right to vote, or practice
one's profession, or exercise parental or
marital authority
• B. CHARACTERISTICS OF PROBATION
[Link] enlightened and humane correctional
treatment
[Link] aims to promote the reformation of the
offenders.
[Link] reduces the incidence of recidivism.
[Link] extends to offenders individualized and
community based treatment programs instead of
imprisoning them.
[Link] is limited to offenders who are likely to respond
favorably there to.
[Link] is less costly than the confinement of all
offenders in prisons.
B. BENEFITS OF PROBATION
Probation has the following benefits:
1. It protects society
a. from the excessive cost of detention
b. from the high rate of recidivism of detained
offender
2. It protects the victim
a. it provides restitution
b. it preserves justice
3. It protects the family
a. it does not deprive the wife and children of
husband and father
b. it maintains the unity of a home
4. It assists the government
a. it reduces the population of prisons and
jail
b. it lessens the clogging of courts
c. it lightens the load of prosecutors
5. It helps the offender
a. it maintains his earning power
b. it provides rehabilitation in the community
c. it restores his dignity
6. It justifies the philosophy of men
a. that life is sacred
b. that all men deserve a second chance
c. that and individual can change
d. that society has the moral obligation to lift
the fallen
C. SAVINGS OF PROBATION
• The following are the savings of
probation:
[Link] is one tenth the cost of
detention. As illustrated, the per capita
[Link] of maintaining one offender in the
Philippines is estimated at Php
11,000.00 annually, while it costs only
Php 300.00 to maintain one offender on
probation.
[Link] means savings of Php 30,000.00
when 10,000 of 40,000 offenders are on
probation annually. It is expected that
at least one third of the prisons and jail
population in the country would benefit
from probation.
[Link] average per capita income of a Filipino in
2003 according to the National Statistics and
Coordination Board (NSCB) was Php 30,703.00.
It means that when 10,000 probationers are
making a living they will produce Php
307,030,000.00 in goods and service annually. A
part of this goes to the government in forms of
taxes. Indeed, detention makes tax eaters while
probation makes TAX PAYERS.
[Link] cost of constructing and preparing
prisons and jails is enormous which would
run to at least Php10,000,000 annually in
order to accommodate 40,000 offenders.
[Link] probation system saves the
government a total of Php 4.678 Billion in
terms of prisoners maintenance in jails and
prisons all over the country.
[Link] Probation System adheres to
the concept of Restorative Justice. Thus, a
total of Php 137.923 Million has been paid
to clients’ victims and/or their heirs
[Link] biggest savings of probation aside
from money are, however, in the forms of
human resources, dignity, time and
opportunity for development, which are
most needed by our society
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PROBATION UNDER
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 603 AND UNDER
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 968
Presidential Decree No. 603 Presidential Decree No. 968
Under Presidential Decree No. 603 the Under Presidential Decree No. 968, the
youthful offender is neither convicted offender is convicted and sentenced.
nor sentenced although the court finding Section 3 defines probation as a
him guilty determines the imposable disposition under which a defendant,
penalty and orders his commitment as a after conviction and sentence, is released
matter of course to any of the trustees subject to conditions imposed by the
for his correction and rehabilitation, even court and to the supervision of a
without his asking for it and without any probation officer. The probationer is not
prior investigation committed to any institution but is set
free under the constructive custody of the
court which heard his application for
probation. Section 4 of the Probation
Decree requires that defendant should
apply for probation.
End of lesson 2