NEW CHANCES AMIDST THE PANDEMIC

By: Raiza Joyce Mendoza

The story of bringing hope for the PDLs of GMA Municipal Jail Tech4ED Center

It is with the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak that physical restrictions become inevitable causing the social and economic marginalization to become extremely felt in prisons by the Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL). It is especially on these trying times that the PDLs and their loved ones found it extra challenging to communicate as the regular visitations, consultations, and regular services were severely limited due to health protocol limitations. In general, economic conditions also took a turn and due to incarceration, that the former inmates found themselves faced with the increasingly daunting task of finding employment and reintegrating into a rapidly changing society now inclined with technology.

The same scenario was faced in GMA Municipal Jail having the welfare and development of their inmates suddenly suspended which has led to the jail unit to look for innovative solutions to cope with the situation. Seeing the DICT’s active implementation of the Tech4ED Program, the jail become optimistic in turning the challenges of the pandemic into a much greater opportunity for the PDLs.

On March 1, 2022, the GMA Municipal Jail Tech4ED Center was formally launched reflecting the commitment of JSUPT CHRISTOPHER R PENILLA and LGU GMA in this partnership with the DICT. The initial operation of the center started with just five computers, nevertheless this was enough to spark a hope of new chances to both PDLs and jail officers amidst the pandemic.

It is with the collaborative efforts of the offices involved to mention the donated ICT equipment by the DICT, along with the additional computer, tables, chairs and LED TVs donated by LGU GMA, that the GMA Municipal Jail Tech4ED Center has now eleven (11) serviceable computers that has provided bigger potential to the development of PDLs following its Tech4Ed Center extension last October 2022 that has catered more interested inmates.

The available ICT equipment also strengthened the alternative education program in jail that even those PDLS in their thirties who couldn’t qualify in Alternative Learning System due to inability to read and write, were given the chance to undergo e-learning through the use of their Tech4ED Center, with St Mary’s Publishing Cloud Learning (SMPC), a partner of GMA Municipal Jail.

From March 2022 to December 2022, the Tech4ED Center benefitted about five hundred seventy-one (571) PDLs through the conducted learning sessions. It is also with this notable increase in developmental opportunities, that GMA Municipal Jail Tech4ED Center has been awarded with 1st Prize Winner in the Search for the Most Outstanding- Emerging Tech4ED Center in CALABARZON last December 2022.

Remarkably, a former PDL who was detained in 2021 because of dangerous drugsrelated case and was released in November 2022 acclaimed the Tech4ED Program for being the channel in implanting that hope in him to long for a brighter future by giving him opportunities to attend Tech4ED learning sessions such as Digital Literacy Training on Image Editing and Photoshop Magic, and Basics in Microsoft Office Word, Powerpoint Presentation and Excel during his confinement. His story remains an inspiration to other PDLs especially noting that during his detention, he became a jail aide and assisted in some records encoding and filing of documents’ while currently, he is a free man - applying via online in a company somewhere in Alabang, Muntinlupa and is about to make use of the skills learned during his stay in jail.

It is with equal access to learning and economic opportunities brought by the Tech4ED Program of the DICT, that PDL stories of this kind are starting to become prevalent as they talk about their reentry to the society. There is truly a hope for everyone, as the Tech4ED Program remains to enable, empower and transform by making it possible and convenient for persons behind bars to access wide range of ICT services despite their isolation, in preparation for their return to society while enabling their smooth transition from incarceration to freedom.