Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. disclosed the rollout of a large-scale reintegration program aimed at helping persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) transition smoothly back into society.

Catapang, in an interview, revealed that the initiative will be supported by several government agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

“This reintegration program is an inter-agency effort. We’re focusing on it now because we only have six weeks of transition work left before the proclamation [of new leadership],” Catapang said.

Under the program, released inmates will be provided with training in livelihood skills such as abaca weaving, wood carving, bag-making, and painting. Many of these products already have strong market demand, Catapang noted.

“Even before release, PDLs will be involved in income-generating projects using the skills they’ve learned,” Catapang said. “They already have the capability; the problem is keeping up with growing demand.”

To support these efforts, BuCor plans to build large-scale facilities beyond traditional training centers. These will be modeled after PESO zones—industrial hubs named after the Public Employment Service Office (PESO)—which will house factories and offer employment to PDLs even prior to their release.

A key part of the plan is to ensure job continuity. PDLs employed within these PESO zones will be eligible for regular employment with partner corporations upon release, said Catapang.

He explained, “By agreement, these companies will absorb the PDLs as regular employees once they are freed."

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was recently signed with the PESO hierarchy to establish what Catapang described as the country’s first Mega PESO Zone—a more than 5,000-hectare business area, likely in Palawan. The project is now awaiting a formal proclamation from the President to designate the site as an integrated economic zone.

In areas outside Luzon, especially where PDLs are released far from the PESO zones, BuCor plans to establish halfway houses—temporary residences for about 1,000 PDLs who are nearing release and already engaged in work programs.

These halfway houses will provide housing for PDLs working in partner factories and, once freed, they can continue employment in the company’s main office.

Within the year, the program is slated for implementation, with funding support from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). A P6 billion budget has already been allocated for the construction of halfway houses and related facilities.

Catapang said they are just waiting for the DBP’s release of the funds and everything else is in motion.