Iloilo City—The local government here, through the Technical Institute of Iloilo City, has equipped 25 prisoners at the female dormitory of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology with skills training that will give them livelihood while inside the facility, and use it to land a job or engage in business once released.
In partnership with the Philippine Foremost Milling Corp., which provided the flour and other ingredients, the 25 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) embarked on a jail pantry training on bread making that culminated on April 3.
The Department of Trade and Industry was also tapped for training on financial literacy.
“During the graduation, we turned over tools and equipment donated by the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc., and kiosks they can use in displaying their goods,” TIIC administrator Mathilde Treñas said in an interview on Tuesday.
The city government provided a stove, while the Philippine Chamber of Commerce of Iloilo will continuously supply the liquefied petroleum gas.
Treñas added that they were working on their start-up capital of P125,000, so they could start their business while inside the facility.
“They were emotional because they could feel the concern for their welfare even if they are inside the facility,” she said.
She added they are already assured of the market since the female dormitory is just within the compound of the Iloilo City Police Office headquarters.
It was the second time the city government, through the TIIC, has embarked on training the PDLs, Treñas said.
Before the pandemic, the TIIC trained 30 male PDLs at the BJMP facility in Barangay Ungka in Jaro on bread making and food processing and provided them with a seed capital of P300,000 to start their business.
Treñas said they would continue to offer more training to PDLs once they transfer to a facility with a bigger space.
The city government has purchased a two-hectare property in Barangay Buntatala in Leganes, Iloilo, that it donated to the BJMP. It will house the facilities for male and female PDLs and the regional office of the bureau.