INCOME-GENERATING. A person deprived of liberty in Cagayan de Oro City Jail finishes a wooden sculpture in this September 2023 photo. The Department of Trade and Industry and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Northern Mindanao have signed an agreement to promote the livelihood products of the inmates to a wider market. (PNA file photo by Nef Luczon)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Northern Mindanao (BJMP-10) vowed to sustain its partnership with communities for the smooth reintegration of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) into mainstream society.
Jail Inspector Don Felix Boado, BJMP's community relations service chief, said Tuesday that a referral system trains PDLs to integrate with the community they choose to live in.
Under this system, Boadi said village officials are tapped to help PDLs navigate the community life better.
"There are also groups who are willing to provide them job opportunities and they (PDLs) will be endorsed, so they can have a source of livelihood," he said.
However, BJMP still receives feedbacks regarding the stigma and negative perceptions towards former PDLs, according to Jail Inspector Melanie Maderieta, the warden of the female dormitory at the city facility.
"That is why we kept on informing the public that these PDLs have been reoriented and reformed, and they needed a chance to be reintegrated again into the mainstream society," she said.
In Region 10, the BJMP operates 24 jail facilities with a total population of 5,631. The city jail facility here houses 2,941 PDLs -- 227 in the female dormitory and 2,714 in the male dorm. (PNA)
