TARLAC CITY (PIA) — Tarlac State University (TSU) and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) inked a Memorandum of Agreement for a three-year extension services program.
“Hiraya: Isang Landas Pasulong” aims to capacitate BJMP personnel and Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) under the custody of Tarlac City Jail Female Dormitory.
TSU President Arnold Velasco underscored that one of the priorities of the university in its extension services is to implement programs with impact in the lives of the stakeholders.
“Our mandates in TSU are not only in the field of teaching, instruction, research, and production, but also in extension services where we help our communities to enhance their skills and talents with our pool of experts in various areas of specialization,” Velasco said.
Velasco added that in order to ensure the program’s effectiveness, assessment and monitoring, as well as research will be conducted before and after the implementation.
Meanwhile, College of Public Administration and Governance (CPAG) Extension Services Focal Jaylord Berndabe said the project intends to conduct activities that are interconnected and progressive to ensure that the output, outcomes, and impact will be realized as planned.
“Programs for Persons Deprived of Liberty will be composed of adult irrigation program, psychological and paralegal interventions, skills and livelihood training, seminar and other motivational activities, while BJMP personnel will be trained on strengthening their dynamic governance capacity and linkages to the local government units and other extension services,” Bernade said.
In response, BJMP Region 3 Chief of Operations Division Jail Superintendent Emily Bueno thanked TSU for its initiative to empower both personnel and PDLs.
“We acknowledge that one of the positive impacts of this project is the decrease in reoffending rate of our Persons Deprived of Liberty because when we provide them with skills training and education they will be ready to start a new life in the mainstream society,” Bueno said.
She added that training for personnel is much needed as they are trained more on the safekeeping aspect while needs improvement in the development aspect.
In the same event, TSU CPAG Graduate School students led the first roll-out of the program through conducting basic hygiene and hair cutting training, and distribution of hygiene kits, electric fans, and exhaust fans. (CLJD/GLSB-PIA 3)
