DAR delivers food for QC jail inmates
SIX hundred five (605) inmates at the jail facility for women in Quezon City enjoyed some comfort and love after the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) visited and brought them packs of food to relish "freedom from want" on the day the country celebrated its 123rd Independence Day.
DAR Secretary John R. Castriciones and Undersecretary for Support Services Emily Padilla led a handful of DAR personnel to the jail facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) inside Camp Gen. Tomas Karingal in Sikatuna Village, Quezon City, bringing with them 10 big boxes containing food packs for jail personnel and inmates.
Bro. John, as Castriciones is fondly called, said the provision of food was DAR’s way of reciprocating the good gesture of the BJMP for buying products of farmers for the daily subsistence of its personnel and inmates in various facilities nationwide.
So far, the BJMP has bought P17 million worth, and counting, of farm products from various agrarian reform beneficiaries' organizations (ARBOs) nationwide, the results of an agreement between the DAR and the BJMP, with the latter committing itself to help ARBOs find a steady market for their products - rice, vegetables, fish, and meat - through their jail facilities nationwide.
"It is our dream to see our farmers liberated from the clutches of cheating traders and 'middlemen,' who are buying their products at a bargain price," Bro. John said.
The marketing arrangement was a strategy Bro. John and Padilla designed to keep farmers from falling prey to unscrupulous traders and middlemen.
Besides the BJMP, the DAR offered it to other government agencies, like the Department of Social Welfare and Development for its feeding program and to the Department of Health and to private hospitals for the food of health workers and patients
Padilla said: "There is a need to pursue this marketing arrangement aggressively to fight hunger, poverty and illiteracy."
According to her, many individuals languishing in jails are themselves victims of circumstances, most of them are forced to commit offenses out of extreme hunger and poverty.
BJMP Director Allan S. Iral said he deeply appreciates the marketing arrangement between the BJMP and DAR-assisted ARBOs as it helps jail personnel and inmates enjoy fresh products at a reasonable price, while helping farmers increase their income.
Iral added: "Walang yaman na hihigit pa sa kalayaan sa kagutuman at kahirapan (No wealth can upstage freedom from hunger and poverty)."
Geraldine Marabot, speaking on behalf of her fellow inmates, expressed their deep appreciation for the time the DAR officials and personnel spent with them and the food delivered to them.