More than 5,800 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) received fresh vegetables from Nueva Vizcaya through a donation facilitated by Sen. Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan, according to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
In a statement on Sunday, BuCor said the NBP received 144 bags of assorted vegetables on Oct. 30 through the initiative of Pangilinan, chair of the Senate agriculture and food panel.
The donation benefited 5,825 inmates across the prison’s maximum, medium, and minimum security camps, as well as its Reception and Diagnostic Center.
BuCor said the agricultural produce was intended to augment the prison’s food supply and support the nutritional needs and overall well-being of inmates.
The delivery, coursed through nonprofit food rescue organization Scholars of Sustenance (SOS) Philippines, included tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, eggplant, bananas, sweet potatoes, okra, cucumbers, Baguio beans, pechay, and other fresh vegetables.
The maximum security camp received 75 bags for 1,430 PDLs, while the medium security camp received 23 bags for 1,050 inmates.
Another 24 bags were distributed to the minimum security camp, benefiting 1,728 PDLs, while the Reception and Diagnostic Center received 22 bags for 1,617 inmates.
A Department of Agriculture-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service truck bearing the Kadiwa ng Pangulo signage delivered the vegetables to the NBP.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. thanked Pangilinan, SOS Philippines, and the other individuals and organizations involved in the donation.
The agency said the initiative highlighted the importance of cooperation among government agencies, private organizations, and agricultural stakeholders in providing food assistance and improving the welfare of PDLs.
Each PDL under BuCor, as well as the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, has a daily food subsistence allowance of P100, equivalent to about P33 for each of the recommended three meals a day.