THE Bureau of Corrections yesterday said it will tap Mary Jane Veloso to teach Batik weaving, a skill she gained in her more than a decade in Indonesian prison, to inmates at the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said this is part of the agency’s efforts to intensify work and livelihood programs for inmates under its care.
“We will tap Mary Jane Veloso who is confined at the CIW to teach her fellow persons deprived of liberty the techniques in weaving Batik which she learned during her incarceration in Indonesia,” Catapang said.
Aside from batik weaving, Veloso also learned to speak Indonesia’s national language.
Veloso was transferred to Manila’s custody last month after nearly a decade on death row in Jakarta following the discovery of over two kilos of illegal drugs from her luggage by Indonesian authorities in an airport in Yogyakarta.
She has repeatedly asserted she was a victim of human trafficking.
Veloso was scheduled to be executed in 2015 but the Indonesian government cancelled the execution on the intercession of then-President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in relation to human trafficking.
Catapang said other livelihood programs being implemented at CIW are making beads, paper crafts, baking, painting, and training for solar panel assembly.
In a related development, Catapang disclosed that the Department of Justice, BuCor and CIW recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Samahan ng mga Pilipina para sa Reporma at Kaunlaran, or SPARK Philippines, to improve the country’s corrections system while safeguarding and empowering women inmates.
Under the MOU, the parties discussed their goals in furtherance of Project Arts, Crafts, and E-Commerce (Project ARTE) geared towards improving the lives of PDLs through nationwide technology upskilling and income generation programs.
Catapang said under the agreement, the DOJ is tasked to formulate policies for the implementation of Project ARTE while the BuCor will facilitate the prioritization and identification of correctional facilities for the initial launch of Project ARTE and its subsequent undertakings, as well as the selection of inmates who will become beneficiaries of the project.