Proudly Filipino 
To make detention time more productive, the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) launched its bag-making program last Friday.
A brainchild project of Gov. Hilario Davide III and his wife Jobel, tarpaulins used in campaign posters are recycled by turning them into grocery bags.
“The income may not be big, but at least, we earned something which we can use for buying our basic needs such as soap,” Adonis Comendador said in Cebuano.
With six electric sewing machines, the CPDRC tapped the help of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to teach inmates on how to sew tarpaulins into grocery bags. So far, there are nine detainees who are part of the program.
The inmates will turn pre-campaign billboard tarpaulins into tents.
The CDPRC has three existing livelihood programs: A bakery and automobile repair and maintenance shop as well as a facility for making house ornaments.
As a way of showing her support and appreciation for the inmates’ valuable work, Jobel bought a miniature galleon, a ship used by explorers in 16th century, from the group of Alex Hugo, which makes decorative items for the house.
Hugo was the former spokesperson of the transport group Nakahiusang Driver sa Sugbu Nadsu (Nadsu). Police arrested him in 2008 for illegal possession of firearms and for allegedly being a member of the New People’s Army.
“Maayo pod na mapahimuslan ang talents sa mga inmates samtang naa pami diri,” Hugo said. (It’s better to put the talents of inmates to good use while we’re still here).
He said the decorative items are made of materials from discarded cardboard and papers hardened by mixing them with leftover rice. Colored plastic bottles and soft drink straws were also used for building miniatures.
Other replicas made by Hugo’s group are churches, houses, fountains with Virgin Mary icons, parks with Magellan’s Cross and horse carriages, and Santa Claus figures surrounded by Christmas trees.
Before making her rounds of the various livelihood facilities at the CPDRC, Jobel met with the crew of an independent filmmaker from Thailand.
The group was scheduled to hold a three-day shoot at the CPDRC starting last Saturday for a flick that featured the life of a British national who was jailed in Thailand for three years.
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