Personnel of the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory lead the online live selling of products made by their detainees on Tuesday, July 27. | Screen grabbed from BJMP Cebu City Male Dorm FB live
CEBU CITY, Philippines — They are behind bars and the pandemic has reduced their opportunities to earn and provide for their families outside. Since we have the means to channel this to people, we exploit online opportunities and do live selling.
Jail Chief Inspector Vilma Catalan, chief of the Welfare and Development Division of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology said this following the simultaneous online live selling or their “Virtual Tiangge sa Piitan” where they promoted and sold products made by inmates today, July 27.
At least 20 jail offices in the region participated in the said activity wherein some items on sale include toilet bowl cleaners and bags.
Catalan said that this activity is also in line with the 30th-anniversary celebration of BJMP-7 wherein at least 5,408 detainees in the entire region used their skills to produce world-class products.
She added that livelihood training has been practiced inside jails for about 25 years already, providing extra income to skilled inmates.
However, since they cannot conduct physical tiangges due to the pandemic, they decided to go online selling.
In a phone interview with CDN Digital, Catalan said that the program is in for the long run after they created partnerships with some private sectors to help them showcase the livelihood products of their detainees.
They are also planning to let jail units in the region conduct live selling as regularly as possible, especially during this pandemic.
She added that those who wish to avail of the PDL-crafted products and support their program may directly contact the respective Facebook page or account used during the live selling.
She added that each jail unit has assigned personnel that potential customers may contact.
“We are giving prizes to jails that have bigger sales, likes, and views to encourage them to promote their products at affordable prices,” Catalan said in mixed Cebuano and English.
The PDLs will receive their share of the online share so that they can continue to provide for their families.
Catalan added that their coordination with TESDA will also continue to help them prepare the inmates to become productive members of society when they are released.
A share of the proceeds will also be used to procure materials which the inmates need for their products.
With this in mind, Catalan encourages the public to support this program as they also try to give their PDLs the chance to make use of their skills even if they are behind bars.
“This enhances the relationship between jail officers and Persons Deprived of Liberty. We are happy that even if they are away from their families, they could still provide help and assistance to their loved ones. We will try to continue what we have started and let our PDLs believe that there is still hope,” Catalan said. /rcg