BuCor taps Mary Jane Veloso to teach Batik weaving to PDLs

Some of the products handmade by inmates at the Correctional Institution for Women were displayed last year to celebrate Mother’s Day. | PHOTO: Tetch Torres / INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) will tap Mary Jane Veloso to teach fellow persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) how to weave Batik, a skill she learned while incarcerated in Indonesia.
Veloso returned to the Philippines last December after 14 years of detention abroad.
READ: Mary Jane Veloso returns home after 14 years
The Indonesian and Philippine governments have agreed that Veloso will continue to serve her sentence in the country. She is currently at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW), one of the penal facilities under BuCor.
READ: 14 years on death row: Timeline of Mary Jane Veloso’s fight for justice
Article continues after this advertisementBuCor Director Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said tapping Veloso is part of their plan to intensify work and livelihood programs for women inmates.
Article continues after this advertisementOther livelihood programs implemented at CIW include bead-making, paper crafting, baking, painting, and training for solar panel assembly.
Catapang added that the Department of Justice, BuCor, and CIW signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Samahan ng mga Pilipina para sa Reporma at Kaunlaran or SPARK Philippines to improve the country’s corrections system while safeguarding and empowering women PDLs.
READ: Ma excited to cook Mary Jane Veloso’s ‘homecoming’ meal
Under the MOU, both parties discussed their mutual responsibilities and goals in furthering Project Arts, Crafts, and E-Commerce (Project ARTE), aimed at improving the lives of PDLs through nationwide technology upskilling and income generation programs.
Based on the MOU, the DOJ is tasked to formulate the policies and roadmap in the planning and implementation of Project ARTE, while the BuCor shall facilitate the prioritization and identification of correctional facilities for the initial launch of Project ARTE and its subsequent undertakings, as well as the selection of qualified PDLs who will become beneficiaries of Project ARTE.