Detainees capacitated with digital literacy proficiency

By Ernesto Delgado

MASBATE CITY --- In the movie series “Now You See Me,” Morgan Freeman’s character conducts illegal business transactions from his prison cell using a personal computer. It is concerning that such crime happens in a place intended to prevent it, and that a detainee has access to an electronic device and the internet.

However, the Masbate City Jail (MCJ) and the local office of the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) are challenging this notion.

They provided detainees with access to computers to learn digital literacy skills since digital tools represent opportunities for employment and hope beyond prison walls.

Senior Inspector Ramon Cabug III, the MCJ warden, and Zycar Ong, the DICT provincial head for Masbate, shared how their institutions prepare people deprived of liberty (PDL) for the digital economy and improve rehabilitation services with technology.

TRAINING Detainees in Masbate City Jail use computer desktops with ease as jail guards look on during a digital literacy training conducted by the office here of the Department of Information and Communication Technology. Contributed photo/Zycar Ong/DICT Masbate

Last month, a five-day training on information and communication technology was conducted, and it produced 20 graduates.

“We trained PDLs with valuable skills to help them transition from prison to the community,” Ong said.

According to Provincial Jail Administrator Marben Cortes, “Having a job that pays well is very important in helping an ex-PDL to successfully reintegrate back into society.”

Access to computer desktops was given for basic digital literacy learning. Practical computer skills were acquired and the desktops were used with ease.

“These desktops are reserved for learning purposes and have limited applications. They do not have Wi-Fi or internet access due to security reasons,” Ong said. PIA 5/Masbate