Jail officials in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan are promoting sports and recreation to help persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) reintegrate into society.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) Puerto Princesa City District Jail-Female Dormitory is expanding its programs to include various indoor and outdoor sports, cultural activities, and other recreational events.
“These activities facilitate social interactions and help alter distressing behaviors,” BJMP Mimaropa Information Officer Jail Officer 3 Joefrie Anglo said in a press release on Sunday, January 26, 2025.
One of the key initiatives is chess, which officials see as a tool for education and social inclusion.
“The program aims to introduce chess as a tool for education and social inclusion in jails. This also dispel the harrowing narratives and ideas about jails as fortified dungeons,” Anglo said.
“We make it a point to make the PDL’s stay in jail as productive, rehabilitative, and worthwhile,” he added.
In 2022, four PDLs under BJMP’s custody won the men’s second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners.
They were able to put Philippines on the global map of chess in places of detention.
The BJMP is also enhancing its welfare and development programs, focusing on behavior modification and a therapeutic community approach to better prepare female PDLs for reintegration into society.
(with reports from JO3 Joefrie Anglo, IO-BJMP MIMAROPA)