TACLOBAN CITY — Persons disadvantaged of liberty (PDLs) on the Maasin City Jail will quickly have new opportunities to be taught expertise and earn a livelihood, following a partnership between the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Southern Leyte and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
The collaboration, formalized by means of an settlement signed through the fourth quarter 2025 assembly of the Southern Leyte Provincial Science, Technology, and Innovation Council, brings science- and technology-based livelihood and coaching applications to the jail underneath DOST’s Community Empowerment by means of Science and Technology (CEST) Program.
DOST Southern Leyte Provincial Director Ramil Uy stated the initiative is designed to assist PDLs make productive use of their time in custody whereas making ready them for all times past jail.
The program additionally goals to help their households and communities by constructing sensible expertise that may translate into income-generating actions.
One of the important thing initiatives underneath the partnership is the institution of a small-scale bakery contained in the Maasin City Jail. With primary tools and hands-on coaching, collaborating PDLs will be taught baking expertise that may present livelihood opportunities throughout detention and after launch.
Beyond livelihood, this system additionally focuses on studying and private improvement. It contains the advance of workspaces, further technical expertise coaching, and entry to STARBOOKS, DOST’s offline digital library that provides a variety of science and know-how sources.
DOST stated the initiative displays its persevering with effort to make science and innovation accessible to all sectors, together with marginalized communities, and to help inclusive and sustainable improvement throughout Southern Leyte.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)