To help inmates at the Montevista District Jail (MDJ) in Davao de Oro earn money, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Davao de Oro turned over to them PHP400,000 worth of bakery equipment on Wednesday.

Jail Chief Insp. Jul Akbar Jamiri, the district jail warden, said the newly turned over bakery equipment will help boost the morale of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and demonstrate the skills they have learned from the recent bread and pastry training.

“We thank DOLE-Davao de Oro for their support through the provision of bakery equipment,” Jamiri said in a statement Thursday.

He said the MDJ bakery is currently offering nine kinds of bread made available to all Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) personnel and even consumers outside the jail.

The PDLs manning the bakery were trained by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

Apart from the bakery equipment, the jail management launched Wednesday an isolation facility that will house PDLs with mild to moderate symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019.

During the height of the pandemic, the agency implemented ways for PDLs to communicate with their loved ones without physical contact, such as the e-Dalaw Program and the separation of visitors by glass barriers using radio-type equipment for communication.

With a population of 263 PDLs, Jamiri said the jail’s “no contact” policy aims to prevent the entry of contraband, including illegal drugs inside the facility. (PNA)