CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Amid controversies on extrajudicial killings in state-initiated campaign against prohibited drugs, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Northern Mindanao (BJMP-10) stood firm in its mandate — to provide all persons deprived of liberty (PDL) chances to reform and equip them for eventual return to their respective communities as productive and law-abiding citizens. All 26 operational jail facilities, under the BJMP-10’s watch, actively joined the week-long 29th National Correctional Consciousness Week (NaCoCoW) activities that showcased skills and talents of PDLs in their care. This includes the Cagayan de Oro City Jail (City Jail) at Barangay Lumbia where over half of the 5,996 PDLs in the region are sheltered.
MindanaoToday.com | Jailers want second chance for inmates
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Amid controversies on extrajudicial killings in state-initiated campaign against prohibited drugs, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Northern Mindanao (BJMP-10) stood firm in its mandate — to provide all persons deprived of liberty (PDL) chances to reform and equip them for eventual return to their respective communities as productive and law-abiding citizens.
All 26 operational jail facilities, under the BJMP-10’s watch, actively joined the week-long 29th National Correctional Consciousness Week (NaCoCoW) activities that showcased skills and talents of PDLs in their care. This includes the Cagayan de Oro City Jail (City Jail) at Barangay Lumbia where over half of the 5,996 PDLs in the region are sheltered.
“Every day of the NaCoCoW was family day,” said Jail Inspector Brit Aguilon, head of City Jail-Lumbia’s community relations service unit, in a Kapihan sa PIA forum at the Limketkai Mall here on Wednesday, October 23. NaCoCoW started on Monday, October 21.
“They will have greater chances in life once they rejoin the society,” he said, and that even though temporarily incarcerated, staying either in the male or female dormitory, yet they had livelihood and skills trainings, and given opportunities to hone their talents. Some are already into wood-carvings and cooking, he said.
These, on top of the usual meat-processing and baking for women, home-and-appliance repairs for men, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the annual Christmas lantern-making.
As of July this year, the list of PDLs who had availed of livelihood and skills trainings had reached 3,846 individuals and this number was inputted into the data bank of the Philippine Statistics Authority-10 (PSA-10).
THREE YEARS
Aguilon said most of their inmates stay in their dormitories for three years or less, but there’s one who overstayed for over five years because court proceedings are still ongoing. But he quickly pointed out that the City Jail-Lumbia has a paralegal unit tasked to closely coordinate with the courts on the status of cases and in the schedules of hearings.
Aguilon said they have 62 inmates who belong to senior citizen age-bracket, 60 years old and older, and they are cared for and tasked separately compared to other PDLs.
In fact, among the BJMP-10 data that was included in an infographic material submitted to the PSA-10 indicate that there 4,078 PDLs who were released, as of the first semester this year, most of them from the City Jail-Lumbia, mainly due to Paralegal Unit’s assistance.
Jail Officer 2 Marie Ann Candie Andoy, who is also the BJMP-10 women’s desk officer, said that there were more than 300 PDLs who had been granted probation and parole within the first half of this year, out of those reported to have been released.
Also, there were also 934 insular prisoners—those convicted and sentenced for three years or more, and for life–who were transferred from BJMP-10’s jails to the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) which is also called Davao Penal Colony or Dapecol in Davao del Norte.
DPPF, one of the seven institutional correctional facilities in the country administered by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), is under the Department of Justice (DOJ) while the BJMP is under the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG).
Jail Senior Inspector Melanie Madarieta, community relations services section chief of BJMP-10, said the list of convicted criminals for inclusion in the granting of executive clemency comes from the BuCor. Executive clemency, which is granted by the President, may come in the form of a reprieve, commutation of a sentence, pardon (either full or conditional), and amnesty.
ALS GRADUATES
Within three years, some PDLs would be granted freedom from incarceration for committing a crime as well as from shackles of ignorance.
Through the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the Department of Education (DedEd), there were 230 who hurdled the academic requirements for elementary and secondary education this school year.
ALS provides opportunities for out-of-school youth and adults (OSYA) learners to develop basic and functional literacy skills, and access equivalent pathways to complete basic education requirements. These are provided for under Republic Act No. 11510 that took effect in 2020.
Both Andoy and Aguilon confirmed there were have been ALS graduates and completers, and those who finished Senior High School (SHS) are going to college for free, once a memorandum of agreement is forged between BJMP-10 and an educational institution in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
Andoy said that those who have already signified their intentions to partner with BJMP-10 for providing college education to PDLs are Informatics Cagayan de Oro and St. Peter’s College of Iligan City.
BJMP-10 infographic that was submitted to PSA-10 show that there were 10 PDLs who had graduated from SHS, 145 from Junior High School, and 75 from Elementary School. Of the 230, 185 are males and 45 are females. [Uriel Quilinguing/MT]
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