Christmas fair features PDLs’ holiday handicrafts
HANDICRAFTS made by prisoners or persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) under the care of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) were featured in the five-day OTOPamasko Pre-Holiday Fair conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Bulacan.
The OTOPamasko Pre-Holiday Fair by the DTI-Bulacan started on Wednesday, November 16, and ended on Sunday, November 20, at Robinsons Place Malolos.
The products were made by 25 PDLs from Marilao Municipal Jail, 10 from Balagtas District Jail and 10 from Baliwag Municipal Jail.
Various items were also presented by other participants, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The PDLs were supported and assisted by the DTI-Bulacan for its promotion under the One Town, One Product (OTOP).
The OTOP is a program of the DTI under Executive Order 176 issued by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2003, to help the MSMEs raise the quality of their products that will enable them to target larger markets.
According to Jail Chief Inspector Delight Ercilla, regional chief of welfare and development of the BJMP in Region 3, the BJMP shouldered the cost of necessary materials for the handicrafts.
Production started in 2022 and the items were initially offered by the BJMP through online selling.
Ercilla said the project aims to help the PDLs to be productive while incarcerated or while their cases are being heard by showing their skills in creating hand-made pieces.
Income from the items will go to their respective craftsmen and their organization.
According to Edna Dizon, provincial director of the DTI-Bulacan, this is the first time that the PDLs in the province joined a trade fair organized by the agency.
Dizon said she hopes that the trade fair will become a regular activity so that the products created by the PDLs can be sold and bought quickly.
Angelita Parungao, provincial director of the Department of Science and Technology-Bulacan provincial office, announced that they provided an oven to the BJMP to help the PDLs in Bulacan to produce food products.