A cause-oriented group has lauded the Bureau of Corrections for providing “well-prepared and nutritious food” for inmates of the country’s various penal facilities.
Louis “Barok” Biraogo, who heads the group Taumbayan Para sa Iyo, said the reformation of inmates starts “with their being cared for” by the government and society in general.
“Despite a very limited budget, the BuCor and its private sector partner have met the nutritional requirements of inmates, thus allowing most of them to shake off the concern that they are forgotten and unwanted,” said Biraogo.
BuCor oversees the feeding program of some 40,000 inmates, where about 120,000 meals are served daily in seven penal facilities nationwide, including the New Bilibid Prison and Correctional for Women, as well as Iwahig Penal Colony in Palawan.
“This is no easy task, considering the sheer volume of meals prepared daily,” Biraogo said.
Food safety is a paramount concern, so much that private contractors are required by BuCor to have professional nutritionists, trained food handlers, certified cold storage, and periodic microbial testing of raw ingredients.
Last year, the entire board of prison supervisors, composed of inmates called “Bosyos or Mayores” at the NBP maximum security compound led by Eddie Karim, said the prison meals are “tasty and acceptable to most inmates.”
This is in stark contrast to the situation over 10 years ago, when food preparation was unsupervised and mostly rationed as raw ingredients, Biraogo said.