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MANILA Philippines 鈥� The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on Tuesday launched a project that would establish jail libraries, as it plans to include reading in the rehabilitation program for persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
In a statement, the BJMP said 鈥淩ead Your Way Out: Advancing Prison Reform through Libraries for Lifelong Learning in Places of Detention鈥� is an undertaking with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The project鈥檚 goal is to provide learning opportunities for personal development, well-being, and, ultimately, rehabilitation of PDLs, it noted.
鈥淚n addition, it aims to incorporate reading activities as one of the options for PDL to earn time allowance for study, teaching, and mentoring,鈥� it also said.
鈥淭ime allowances reduce time in sentences and facilitate decongestion through early release coupled with rehabilitation grounded in improved education and vocational skills,鈥� it added.
READ: In Bolivia, inmates can cut jail time by reading
The BJMP said libraries will be built in 13 jails and will contain legal (20%) and vocational resources (30%), as well as fiction and non-fiction (40%), and children鈥檚 books (10%) for family visitors.
A technical working group composed of officials from the BJMP, UNODC, and the National Library of the Philippines has been created to help implement the project. 鈥擵ance Chan, trainee
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