The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has initiated the profiling of beneficiaries or the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the Manila City Jail Female Dormitory (MCJFD) for the “Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD)", the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said. 

In a statement, the  MCJFD explained that the initiative aims to provide short-term employment opportunities to qualified individuals, contributing to community reintegration and livelihood support for PDLs upon release.

The BJMP also noted that over 113,000 PDLs are the beneficiaries of its livelihood and skills training program that prepares them to be productive citizens in mainstream society upon their release from detention.

Former Danao City Jail PDL Sandy Pagobo, a single father to three children, began his journey to change inside a jail cell, not outside it.

While serving time, Pagobo enrolled in the Shielded Metal Arc Welding Training offered by Cebu Technological University, exhibiting dedication that inspired him to teach and mentor fellow PDLs through the Sari-Sari Skills Training Program PDL Edition.

“He now works as a pipe fitter in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia,’’ the DILG said.

At the Legazpi City Jail, a PDL named Lisa learned how to make doormats, bayong (native bags), dishwashing liquid, and even how to grow food through hydroponics through the BJMP's livelihood programs.

The DILG noted that Liza’s earnings as a livelihood worker now allows her to send P1,000 a week to her son who is in Grade 12. 

Another PDL from Balungao District Jail named Joy, found her turning point in the kitchenware where her  transformation began when she joined the Cookery NC II program, a 40-day culinary course offered by Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in partnership with BJMP.

A single mother of two, Joy, who had juggled multiple informal jobs before being detained, helps run the jail’s internal kitchen, feeding fellow PDLs and mentoring other women along the way. 

“Her dream is to open a small carinderia when she’s released, one that welcomes and empowers other women like her,’’ the DILG revealed.

“These stories are not isolated. They are proof that rehabilitation is possible, and that redemption begins the moment we invest in people’s potential, not their past,’’ it added.

DILG Secretary Juanito Victor ‘Jonvic’ Remulla stressed the BJMP’s mandate is to keep the country safer, to rehabilitate and to ensure the PDLs can return as contributing members of society. 

“Indeed, behind every bar of steel is a life that can still be changed. Through programs that restore dignity and rebuild hope, BJMP proves that justice in the Philippines is not only about confinement, but about compassion as well,’’ Remulla pointed out.

But more than a mandate, Remulla stressed the part of the DILG’s commitment to carry out the directive of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. is “to deliver justice with compassion and build a Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines) where no one is left behind, not even those behind bars.’’