BJMP Region IX launches the program called ABAKADA to help fund the tuition of detainees’ children. Photo from BJMP PIO
MANILA, Philippines — With their parents still in jail, some children in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur were forced to work to survive while bearing the brunt of the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic.
Jackyline, 18, worked as a house help to fund her tuition and school fees while her father, Jonacesio Tora is detained at Pagadian City Jail Male Dormitory. Ricky, meanwhile, turned to sell food and snack like lumpia and turon while his mother Meriam Abastas is still incarcerated at the Pagadian City Jail Female Dormitory.
Ricky and Jackyline’s stories reached the Bureau of Jail of Management and Penology (BJMP) Region IX personnel.
This led the BJMP Region IX, under Director Jail Senior Superintendent Johnson Calub, to launch its ABAKADA program last Aug. 24, which encouraged jail personnel to donate coins to assist detainees’ children, who are having difficulty to fund their school expenses.
BJMP Jail Director Allan Iral acknowledged the efforts of his officers, saying they expect more poor children to receive benefits from the program.
“This initiative is commendable because it reflects BJMP compassion mainly to poor children and families of PDL (persons deprived of liberty) under our care. Our public services are not confined merely in the jails and we hope to help more children through this,” Iral said in a statement on Thursday.
BJMP spokesman Jail Chief Inspector Xavier Solda said so far, jail personnel collected P16,000 for the ABAKADA program.
“These few coins might be a little amount in our pockets but it could mean life, it could help the less fortunate kids for their education,” Solda told INQUIRER.net in a text message.