Rehabilitation to Reintegration Journey with the Mandela Rules of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Philippines

ICPA 2025 Presentation by Persida Acosta and Erwin Erfe (PID045)

Authors

Persida Acosta

Chief Public Attorney, Public Attorney's Office, Philippines

DR. PERSIDA V. RUEDA-ACOSTA, DSD., Chief Public Attorney of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), Philippines (since February 23, 2001), 4th Placer, 1989 Philippine Bar Examinations, is a Doctor of Social Development graduate (GWA 1.20) from the University of the Philippines. Dr. Acosta completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program, Senior Executive Program on National and International Security;and Public Financial Management at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), U.S.A. She also acquired Professional Certificate in International Management and Leadership (International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, London), and Salzburg Global Seminar Fellowships (2023; 2009). Her expertise in legal aid has been recognized by international institutions, inter alia, UNICEF; UNODC; UNDP; USAID; IIJ-Malta, LAF-Taiwan; Nippon Foundation; Japan Legal Support Center; Legal Aid South Africa; China University of Political Science and Law; Legal Aid ACT (Australia); and School of Law, Bennett University (India) through their invitations to her as expert/resource person, and partner in advocacies.

Dr. Acosta, an active member of the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA), served as Speaker during its Annual General Meetings and Conferences in Thailand (2007); Czech Republic (2008); Singapore (2011); Mexico City (2012); Melbourne, Australia (2015); Argentina (2019), and Singapore (2024); 1st Corrections Technology Conference (Adelaide, Australia, 2023); and the recent two Thailand ICPA Conferences. As a passionate prison reforms advocate, she was granted a 2013 scholarship entitled as New Approaches to Prison Management and Rehabilitation in Israel. Such passion is reflected in her Dissertation, “Examining Deaths Behind Bars: Towards Penal System Policy Reforms in the Context of Human Rights” (June 2015).

Erwin Erfe

Deputy Chief Public Attorney, Public Attorney's Office, Philippines

ATTY. ERWIN P. ERFE, MD. Before successfully hurdling the 2001 Philippine Bar examination, he passed both the Philippine Physician Licensure Examination and the United States Medical Licensure Examinations. He holds university degrees in psychology, management, medicine and law. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Chief Public Attorney (DCPA) by His Excellency President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in March 27, 2024 he served the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) for 19 years as its Forensic Consultant, Director of the Public Attorney’s Office Forensic Laboratory Division and later Public Attorney IV. He entered public service with decades of experience in the practice of law, forensic science, and in management.

Atty. ERFE completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program, and, Public Financial Management at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), U.S.A. He also acquired Professional Certificate in International Management and Leadership (International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, London), and a Certificate in Corporate Risk Management from Harvard Business School. Erwin studied in Israel where he earned a Diploma in National Security and Certificate in Prison Management and Rehabilitation from the Galilee International Management Institute Center for Strategic Studies. He completed his Certificate in Criminal Investigation from the American Institute of Applied Science in Youngsville, North Carolina, USA.

He completed his forensic trainings in the field of forensic medicine, forensic anthropology, bloodstain pattern analysis, forensic & evidence photography, forensic taphonomy and biological profiling from various institutions in the United States of America (USA).

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