THE Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Central Visayas launched Monday the "Creation Behind Bars: An Inmates' Livelihood Products Exhibit 2013" at Cebu City Hall as it celebrates its 22nd anniversary.
The exhibition formally opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony led by Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and Assistant Region Jail Superintendent Bartolome Sagadal.
Products on sale include furniture, purses made of beads, key chains, lamp shades made of recycled plastics, animal figurines made of melted plastics and recycled papers, and vermi organic fertilizer. Most of the products were hand-made by both men and women detainees from the region's jails.
(Photos by Karen Tabla and Ma. Alyssa Paz, PIT interns/Sunnex)
"It has been characterized as a penal system which is rehabilitative, corrective and reformative... our inmates, are placed there not to place them on a very serious and worst spotlight but for them to be given a chance to reform, to be rehabilitated and once they go out of jail, they will again go back to mainstream society and earn a living and earn the respect of the members of the community," said Labella.
Jail Officer 1 Jeramay Retardo-Campaner said the inmates are undergoing trainings and skills enhancement seminars for them to learn how to make a living by making hand-made products.
She said they are preparing and equipping the inmates before they will be back to the society for them to have a better life and land a job. This will also keep them from doing crimes again, she added.
The materials used were provided by the jail and some agencies like the National Council for Culture and Arts, which provided the beads used for making purses and jewelry arts.
Sagadal encouraged the public to help the inmates earn a small living, and the jail to provide additional materials for the manufacturing of the hand-made products.
Proceeds from the exhibit will serve as the inmates’ compensation and source for the procurement of additional materials.
The exhibit will last until August 9 and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Karen Tabla and Ma. Alyssa Paz, PIT interns/Sunnex)