TACLOBAN CITY - The Department of Justice-Parole and Probation Administration (DOJ-PPA) Regional Office in Eastern Visayas has urged eligible residents to apply as volunteer probation assistants. DOJ-PPA Eastern Visayas Regional Director Rosana Solite said the regional office has only 35 probation officers regionwide with about 500 volunteers. The current workforce is not enough considering that the office has more than 4,400 clients either probationers or parolees in six provinces of the region. "This makes our probation officers loaded with work. In fact, we have one office where there are only three officers handling 200 cases. We have been working double time because we are only given 60 days by the court to complete the report if the clients will be granted with probation or not," Solite said in an interview on Friday. If there are instances that the probation officer fails to submit reports on time, the DOJ-PPA usually seeks court permission for an extension. Presidential Decree No. 968 allows the employment of Volunteer Probation Aides (VPA) tasked to assist provincial or city probation officers in the supervision of probationers. The DOJ-PPA administrator may appoint citizens of good reputations to act as probation aides. They will not receive any regular compensation for services except for a reasonable travel allowance. Citizens of good standing in the community may volunteer to assist the probation and parole officers in the supervision of several probationers, parolees, and conditional pardonees in their respective communities. "Since they reside in the same community as the client, they can usher in the reformation and rehabilitation of the clients hands-on," Solite told the Philippine News Agency. More than half of DOJ-PPA clients face drug-related cases under the plea bargaining framework, followed by persons who committed crimes against persons, then those who are facing charges for crimes against property. Although there is manpower constraint, Solite said for the entire region, they only have less than one percent revocation rate. "We are proud that because that means our clients are complaint and that they are following the conditions of their probation and parole," the official added. The DOJ-PPA is a government agency responsible for providing a less costly alternative to imprisonment of first-time offenders who are likely to respond to individualized community-based treatment programs. (PNA) }