DAR celebrates Independence Day with persons deprived of liberty
TACLOBAN CITY – As the nation commemorated the 123rd Independence Day on June 12, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) opted to celebrate the occasion with persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the different jail facilities throughout the country.
DAR Undersecretary for support services Emily Padilla ordered all DAR Regional and provincial offices to hold a “salo-salo” for the PDLs of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in their respective areas.
“We dubbed this event as ‘Kalayaan mula sa Kagutuman, Kahirapan at Malnutrisyon.’ We are doing this to thank our partners in the BJMP for believing in our agrarian reform beneficiaries to supply food for the PDLs,” said Padilla.
In Eastern Visayas, some 40 PDLs at the Female Dorm of the Tacloban City Jail were surprised with food packs from the DAR Regional Office which they shared with the people at the BJMP.
According to DAR’s Program Beneficiaries Development Division Chief, Melecia Ong, “This is DAR’s way of expressing our gratitude to BJMP for supporting the agrarian reform beneficiaries by purchasing their products under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP).”
Ong disclosed that BJMP is among the institutional buyers of farmers’ products, which they use in feeding the PDLs.
Jail inspector Fe Reynalda Chan of the Tacloban City Jail Female Dorm said, “Continuous coordination and linkages to other government and non-government organizations in the community is highly recommended to augment the needs of the PDLs while temporarily confined at this jail unit.”
In Eastern Samar, the DAR Provincial Office likewise provided the Borongan City Jail, as well as the Guiuan and Balangiga District Jails with free fruits and vegetables, which the jail facilities could use in the preparation for the meals of 115 PDLs in the province.
The EPAHP is a program where government institutions work together to support poor people in the countryside through feeding programs in schools and provision of community meals for workers and laborers.