The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) conveyed its endorsement of a initiative on Wednesday, one that seeks to restore and reintegrate individuals who have been deprived of their freedom, back into society by means of agricultural labor.
Unveiled in the previous month, the Reformation Initiative for Sustainable Environment for Food Security (RISE) Project has the ambition of making use of the Bureau of Corrections’ (BuCor) uncultivated lands for agricultural advancement, in support of the government’s mission to achieve food security.
Initial activities of the project will be conducted at the Iwahig penal colony located in Palawan.
“This initiative aims to create spaces where innovation and modernization will be put forward to ensure a positive impact on the country’s agricultural sector and tackle the issue of food security,” the CHR said.
“The project is also committed to rehabilitating PDLs serving sentences of more than 3 years, by integrating them into the program,” it added.
As per the CHR, this project provides individuals who have been deprived of their liberty (PDLs) with the chance to gain fresh skills, make contributions to the nation’s agricultural and food prospects, and successfully reintegrate into society.
CHR supports program tapping PDLs for agri work
“We are hopeful that this will help improve the welfare and health of the PDLs while giving them the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to food security,” the CHR said.
”We are looking forward to the efficient and scaled-up implementation of the project to ensure impact in all the areas it seeks to improve and address. Further, CHR hopes this initiative will enable the implementation of more policies and rehabilitative justice projects that will be beneficial to the reformation and welfare of PDLs,” it added.
The RISE Project is a collaborative effort involving the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Justice, and BuCor.
Department of Agriculture earlier reported the government is planning to import 1.3 million metric tons of rice again.
“Mayroon kaming ini-schedule. We will be scheduling the importation. We have already, you know… remember nasa sanitary, phytosanitary, hindi ba. We have already something like 1.3 volume of applications that are already pending there,” Sombilla said.
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