City jail baking partnership triggered by detainee’s appeal

By Ramon Dacawi

BAGUIO CITY -- A plea from a female detainee two years ago triggered a public-private partnership in prison reform that eventually gave weight to the Regional Kabalikat Award the city government received last week from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

TESDA director general Joel Villanueva presented the award to city officials led by mayor Mauricio Domogan when the two forged a co-management agreement for the development of the Baguio City School of Arts and Trades (BCSAT) that provides technical and vocational skills training here.

“The (Kabalikat) award is conferred to outstanding institutions, private firm/companies, local government units and legislative partners cognizant of their good practice and contribution in the promotion and development of the country’s tech-voc workers in terms of qualification and/or competencies gained,” the TESDA said.

The citation read during the ceremony noted the city’s maintaining a high literacy rate, ,having been instrumental in training thousands of scholars in technical and vocational programs and having appropriated about P13 million from 2011 to 2013 for the joint skills teaching program.

It noted that the programs conceived and implemented included skills training for the youth, including “the underprivileged and inmates of the city’s detention facilities”.

The immersion of the inmates into the skills program took form in August, 2012 when members of the Rotary Club of Baguio Summer Capital escorted to the city jail visiting Rotarian Stanley Tokigawa of AlaMoana District 5000 in Honolulu and Prof. McQuittey of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary based in Fort Worth, Texas.

The two visitors braved a storm in coming up to Baguio to link with fellow Rotarians.

They brought three boxes of rubber sandals which their local counterparts led by club founder VirgilioBautista,club president Joris

Karl Dacawi and incoming president Edward Dogui-is thought would be appropriate to distribute to inmates.

In her response at the turn-over, a woman detainee expressed hope the Rotarians might consider bringing in a baking oven so the prisoners could produce their own morning bread.

Back in Honolulu, Tokigawa sent the amount needed for the oven that his local counterparts delivered to the city jail.

Then jail warden, Chief Insp. Wilson Banasen, the Rotarians and the city contacted BCSAT administrator, Engr. David Bugallon who, in turn, sent his staff to train the inmates to bake their own bread, using the city’s fund support.

Thirty inmates finished the 15-day course that rewarded them with the national eligibility certificate being given to baking job applicants seeking domestic and overseas employment.

Prior to the arrival of the Rotarians’ oven, the trainees got a glimpse into the course when former journalist and baking hobbyist Annabelle Codiase-Bangsoy brought in her gadgets for a demonstration.

Recently, Banasen and female detainees’ dorm wardress, Chief Insp. Mary Ann Tresmanio worked out a P250,000 fund support from the Department of Labor and Employment to fund the inmates’ bread production project.

Samples of the produce were presented to city officials during one of their Monday morning breakfast meetings.

The baking course  graduates are again preparing dough  for “pandesal”  they will serve after their three-kilometer fun-run around the jail quadrangle which mayor Domogan will flag off  morning of Sept. 16 to drum up support for the regular run the city will sponsor on Sept. 28 to raise funds for patients undergoing regular hemodialysis treatment for kidney failure.

The run-for-a-cause will also serve to launch the inmates’ bread marketing program.