The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
(SBMA) and the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA), an attached agency
under the Department of Justice (DoJ), recently signed a Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) that supports the reintegration of probationers, parolees, and
pardonees into the workplace.
The MOA was signed between SBMA
Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño and Department of
Justice-Parole and Probation Administration (DOJ-PPA) Administrator Atty.
Bienvenido O. Benitez Jr. on Thursday, at the SBMA Corporate Boardroom.
According to Aliño, the workplace
reintegration program is a silver lining for those who were deprived of liberty
and be part of the social mainstream again.
“If you are a parolee, probationer or
pardonee, people will tend to look down on you because of the social stigma
from your past actions. I honestly think though, that they should
not be denied their right to work and provide financial support to their
families,” he said.
He added that this stigma has hindered
most of them from reintegrating into a workplace, as they are usually shunned
by companies due to their past records.
Atty. Benitez expressed his gratitude
to the SBMA for supporting the PPA’s workplace reintegration program since the
agency is the first among the government-owned and controlled corporations
(GOCCs) that supported the project.
He lauded the efforts of the SBMA Labor
Department led by Atty. Melvin Varias, for being instrumental in the
realization of this proposal to reintegrate the parolees, probationers and
pardonees (also known as clients) into the workplace, to
create employment opportunities and help rebuild the lives of former
persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
According to the general conditions of
the agreement, the SBMA and the PPA will jointly develop a workplace reintegration
program for these clients that specifies its objectives and includes a register
of the knowledge, skills, and competencies that these persons already have or
acquired for skills-matching.
The SBMA and the DOJ-PPA will jointly
monitor and evaluate the Workplace Reintegration Program.
The agreement also states that the
supposed employment shall not constitute an employee-employer relationship
between the SBMA and the clients, but shall be a partnership or joint venture
between the agency and the DOJ-PPA, even beyond the scope of the agreement.
As the MOA also provides, the clients
shall be personally responsible for any and all liabilities, injury to his/
herself or to property/ies or persons attributable to his/ her own fault or
negligence while in the employ of employer establishment.
Meanwhile, SBMA Senior
Deputy Administrator for Support Services Atty. Ramon O. Agregado said that the
SBMA is more than willing to help these clients get back into the workplace,
adding that providing equal employment opportunities for them would be an
honorable undertaking for the agency.
“For our part, we will
facilitate the endorsement of potential and qualified clients through a
Register of Eligibles (ROEs) to Subic Bay Freeport Zone locator-companies under
the Workplace Reintegration Program,” he said.
He added that the SBMA will provide a
quarterly update to the DOJ-PPA on the program, and coordinate and work closely
with the administration in order to provide the needed support to achieve the
MOA's objectives.
According to Atty. Benitez, the DOJ-PPA
also plans to propose the program to Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and
John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC). (MPD-SBMA)
