Incarcerated but Educated: 6 earn degree at College Education Behind Bars' new DaPeCol campus

Physically incarcerated but now intellectually free, six persons deprived of liberty (PDL) from Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DaPeCol) earned their college degree today, proving that freedom is restricted but their right to receive education is not.

Through the College Education Behind Bars' (CEBB) partnership with the Dangerous Drug Board, Davao Del Norte State College, and the Department of Education, PDL were given the opportunity to acquire tertiary education for free from Davao del Norte State College (DNSC).

“Our PDL have violated the law and they are deprived of their liberty but not of their fundamental right to receive education," CHED Secretary Popoy De Vera said during his commencement address when he referenced the Republic Act 10931 or the Free Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. CEBB is the first of its kind in the Philippines and in Asia to provide college education and to construct a physical college building inside the jail and now prison.

It is a product of the partnership of State Universities and Colleges (SUC), Social Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Business Institute (SETBI), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Region XI, Dangerous Drug Board (DDB), the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), and the support of the local government of Davao.

“One way to reduce the cycle of incarceration and recidivism is through education and job training. We believe that investing in human resources no matter who they are or where they come from is the best investment to make,” SETBI President and Founder Aland David Mizell said.

“Dahil sa suporta at aruga ng iba’t ibang sangay ng gobyerno at ng SETBI, ang mga PDLs ay nagkaroon ng kakayahan at kompiyansang kinakailangan upang makabalik sa lipunan,” Associate Justice of Supreme Court of the Philippines Jose Midas P. Marquez said.

The University of Southeastern Philippines was the first SUC to deliver the CEBB Program in the Davao City Jail in 2017, and it was replicated by DNSC to facilitate college education at Davao Prison and Penal Farm.

“I encourage USeP and DNSC to document their delivery of the CEBB program in order to encourage other Higher Education Institutions across the country to replicate and launch similar initiatives in their respective localities. We need to have more of this to ensure that in our education mission no one Filipino is left behind,” De Vera said.

To date, the program has produced more than 88 graduates and more than 157 students are going to enroll in the CEBB programs for the 2024-2025 school year.