Orders, anyone?
The one-of-a kind bakery run by inmates in the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) can now take orders 24/7 for bread, pastries and cakes.
As early as 6 a.m. neighbors in barangay Kalunasan knock on the jail’s gate to buy freshly baked bread, said jail warden Romeo Manansala.
Inmates bake from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m., earning at least P4,000 daily, an amount managed by the inmates cooperative.
Provincial Jail Consultant Marco Toral said bread deliveries are also accepted for added income. Last Saturday, they delivered 5,000 pieces of ensaymada to a monastery in Oslob town, southern Cebu.
Orders can be phoned in to 255-4507, a number designated by jail officials.
Last Monday, Roberto “Bobby” Aboitiz, president of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., turned over a donation of baking equipment which included a dough roller, a big oven, slicer, baking pan and two baking stands so that inmates can produce a bigger volume.
With their old equipment, inmates produced daily at least eight bread and cake varieties which include hopia, donuts, siakoy, binangkal, belgium, francis, banana cake and pandesal.
Gov. Hilario Davide III, who attended the turnover ceremony, said he was happy with the venture.
“This is really for the inmates. This is a means of livelihood for them because they earn a share of the sales,” he told reporters.
The CPDRC bakery was opened on July 2013 as an income generating venture for the inmates’ cooperative.
It started as a sideline of inmate Lito Granada, who used to work in a commercial bakery chain, before he was committed in the CPDRC.
He first made siakoy to sell to fellow inmates, then trained some of them to handle various tasks when he prepared other products with an old oven in the jail.
Bakery operations expanded further with the opening of the “Noy Honesto Cafe” at the Cebu Provincial Police Office and the CPDRC lobby early this year.
Inmates sell their baked products at P2 to P8 per piece.
Toral said inmates now accept orders for wedding cakes for only P5,000. Couples only need to present a visual of their preferred design.
In the next few days, Toral said, they plan to open a bakery outside the jail to reach more customers.
Toral said he’s discussing with the Kalunasan barangay captain how to convert a tanod outpost into a bread store.