BLUEPRINT. Davao City Jail Warden Jail Supterintendent Grace Taculin bares the site development plans of the new City Jail in a press conference on Wednesday, May 10. The facility, which will be constructed in an eight hectare lot in Baranggay Wangan, Calinan will provide sports facilities and an organic farm for the inmates, among others. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — City Jail Warden Jail Superintendent Grace Taculin bared on Wednesday that the city’s new jail facility in Calinan will be offering skills training and education program to make the inmates productive.
In a press conference here, Taculin said only the inmates who want to be productive again will be prioritized to be accommodated in the new facility.
A school will soon be opened inside the new jail facility under the management of the University of Southeastern Philippines.
Inmates will be attending daily classes of which professors from USEP will serve as their mentors. Female inmates are to attend their classes in the morning while all male inmates’ classes are both in the afternoon and evening, according to Taculin.
She said the school is expected to open this August and will offer “basic education, vocational training, life skills development, and substance abuse intervention.”
“‘Pag mugawas man gud sa jail lisod makatrabaho, makasulod sa kompanya” (When they go out, they often find it difficult to find work in companies), Taculin said.
USEP’s extension school will also be offering courses in entrepreneurship, languages, computer skills, healthcare, and agriculture including a diploma on anger management and general education equivalency.
“Once they will be graduated, they will be receiving the diploma from USEP,” she added.
Taculin said only three hectares of the total land area will be used to house the 5,000 inmates. The remaining five hectares will be utilized as a soccer field and for an organic farm.
Read related story: New 8-hectare facility to decongest Davao jail
Inmates in need of medical assistance, as well as those considered to be “high-risk,” and “recidivists” will remain in the old jail facility in Maa, whichwill be called the City Jail Annex.
The bidding for the construction will be opened to the public starting next month. The project’s approved budget is at P236 million. (davaotoday.com)
