BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio City Jail-Male Dorm said that some nineteen persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are now pursuing their education in various levels under the government’s Alternative Learning system (ALS) to allow them to acquire the necessary higher level of studies while awaiting for the decisions that will be handed down by the different courts relative to the cases they had been charged.
Jail Chief Inspector John Waylan Lapon, warden of the Baguio City Jail–Male Dorm, said that jail personnel continue to encourage the PDLs to enroll under the ALS where there are already three who are enrolled in the elementary level, 11 in the junior high school and five in the senior high school levels.
He pointed out that incarceration is a not a hindrance for the PDLs to continue their education because the administration of the facility allows them to pursue their studies.
The jail warden claimed that the graduates of the senior high school can now avail of the facility’s new program which is the College Education Behind Bars (CEBB) where there have been three PDLs who availed of the initiative and now enrolled at the State-run Benguet State University (BSU).
Further, Lapon said that the PDLs have shown their enthusiasm and engagement in various programs equipping them with competencies like skills and vocational trainings in preparation for their re-integration to the mainstream society.
On the other hand, the jail officer noted that all PDLs have actively participated in the inter-faith, sports, cultural and behavioral intervention programs of the facility that continues to ensure a holistic development approach by the present administration.
He stipulated that a substantial number of PDLs have actively participated in the facility’s livelihood programs that generated sales providing them with income and valuable work ethics which they could use for productive purposes once they join mainstream society. By Dexter A. See
