Behind the walls of the Mamburao District Jail in Occidental Mindoro, inmates are finding a new purpose, growing their own food and learning skills that could help them rebuild their lives.
At least 70 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are undergoing agricultural training, particularly in organic farming, as part of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s (BJMP) initiative to rehabilitate rather than punish.
Inside the facility, a thriving vegetable garden grows crops like pechay, beans, squash, cabbage, Chinese kangkong, eggplant, tomato, papaya, and bitter gourd.
“This Green Program of the BJMP is really therapeutic because it breaks up the monotony of everyday life in jail and provides PDLs with satisfying work, marketable skills and fresh food to eat,” BJMP Mimaropa information officer Jail Officer 3 Joefrie Anglo said.
The harvest from the jail’s mini garden supplements their food supply while equipping inmates with essential farming skills.
Anglo said BJMP’s goal is rehabilitation: “They (PDLs) are not there to get punished but rehabilitated to become better members of their communities once they get out of jail,” he said.
He added reconnecting inmates with nature helps create a more humane society.
“What we’re trying to do here is to bring the jail community together, find their inner gardener. If they’re successful reconnecting to themselves and to the natural world, we are indeed creating a safer, more humane society,” he said.
Aside from vegetable gardening, BJMP-MDJ also offers various educational and livelihood programs to help inmates prepare for a better future.
(with reports from JO3 Joefrie Anglo, IO-BJMP MIMAROPA)
