I was in Kalinga last August as part of Masda-Aw, where we collaborated with local weavers on natural dyeing techniques.
One of our activities involved conducting an art workshop at the Kalinga District Jail, where I was given a tour of their garden by Therapeutic Community Modality Program (TCMP) Implementor JO1 Rodel Bucatan speaking on behalf of the person in charge of the garden, who wasn’t present at the time of the interview.
Bucatan and his fellow TCMP implementers are in charge of the welfare and development of the PDLs (People Deprived of Liberty) in the facility.
The jail garden is part of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) program called Halina’t Magtanim ng Prutas at Gulay (HAPAG) sa Piitan.
“The BJMP encourages all jails to engage in urban gardening,” Bucatan explained in Tagalog. “All jails have limited space but we’re blessed because we have a little space for gardening. At the same time, this is also part of their rehabilitation because they learn to maximize a small part of the land to produce food.”
The PDLs are taught natural farming methods. The garden produces different crops depending on the season. As of my visit, everything had just been harvested. “We used to grow patola, but now we’ve just finished harvesting ampalaya. Sometimes we plant kangkong because it only takes 21 days before harvesting. Now we’ve planted okra,” Bucatan said.
He explained that the produce can be sold to fellow PDLs or jail personnel. If there’s a bumper crop, it can be sold outside the jail. Most of the time though, harvests are for the consumption of PDLs and jail personnel.
The harvests are recorded and given price equivalents. Expenses are deducted and if there are proceeds, this is divided among the PDLs and the Welfare and Development department.
Bucatan shared that according to the PDLs, one of the biggest effects working on the garden has had on them is the alleviation of “buryong,” prison slang for the extreme boredom and cabin fever from being locked up. “It’s a higher level of boredom,” he explained. “Just imagine the setup: they’re in jail. They have limited access to communication, to food, to things they want to do. They are deprived of your liberty, so you’re buryong. Gardening is one way to reduce their stress.”
He added that aside from being taught a means of livelihood, being out in nature and sunlight also has a calming effect on some PDLs, a literal touching of grass. “Some people are here because they don’t know how to make a living except through crime, so they’re learning a new way to make money,” Bucatan said. “There’s also a different effect when we touch soil, when we touch nature. It relieves stress. It also gets them out into the sun because being cooped up inside all day can make one lethargic.”
When asked if learning how to farm has helped inmates after they are released, Bucatan relayed a story about a former inmate at the Baguio City Jail, where he was formerly posted: “He needed to change his circle of friends so he wouldn’t be tempted to commit the same crimes, so he moved to Pangasinan where he applied everything he learned in jail.”
There was a gym being built near the garden at the time of the interview, its completion affecting the garden’s fate because of the amount of sunlight it might block. This, in turn, will affect the kinds of crops planted in the future. “Other jails have a hydroponic setup. We haven’t been trained in hydroponic farming yet, but we’re willing to learn,” Bucatan said.
He hopes that aside from urban gardening, the PDLs are given the chance to learn practical livelihood skills such as tile setting and call center training to help them integrate into society after their incarceration. “The end goal isn’t to punish them. The end goal is for them to be reintegrated into the community. This is not the end of their life.”