NORTHERN MINDANAO – The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Northern Mindanao (BJMP-10) is maintaining its collaborative efforts with local communities to facilitate the reentry of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) into mainstream society.
According to a new release by the Philippines News Agency, BJMP's community relations service chief, the agency has a referral system in place that trains PDLs to integrate into the community they choose. Village officials are involved in this system to assist PDLs in acclimating to community life. "There are also groups who are willing to provide them job opportunities and they will be endorsed, so they can have a source of livelihood," Boado stated.
Despite these efforts, BJMP still confronts societal stigmas and negative perceptions about former PDLs, said 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," Maderieta noted.
In Region 10, BJMP operates 24 jail facilities with a combined population of 5,631 PDLs. The city jail facility alone houses 2,941 PDLs, of which 227 are in the female dormitory and 2,714 are in the male dorm.