No more kosa, detainees are brothers, sisters - BJMP

MANILA, Philippines - Words such as mayores (leader of a group of inmates), kosa (companion in a detention cell), oblo (loob or inside the jail) and rancho(food for inmates) are among the terms spoken by inmates that the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) wishes to replace, officials said yesterday.

 In an interview with The STAR, BJMP-National Capital Region director Chief Superintendent Benito Dorigo said the BJMP-NCR will launch the Therapeutic Commodity and Modality Program (TCMP), a holistic approach that seeks to bring back the dignity of inmates in Metro Manila.

“Under TCMP, there will be no more kosa or rancho. They call each other brothers or sisters. Food will not be called rancho, but breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Jail Officer 1 Lilybel Paraan of the BJMP-Community Relations Service said.

Dorigo said inmates in Metro Manila’s 38 jails will be encouraged to wake up, pray, exercise and attend to their hygiene at the same time and participate in specific activities each day. “We want everybody to be busy and productive,” he said.

Paraan said they “want to enhance the morale and spiritual at the same time the attitude of the inmate, we want to build up their characteristic as a person.”

She said the program also discourages physical punishment or torture for inmates who fail to follow regulations. “The BJMP leadership would like to make the inmate realize that not all violations should be dealt with physical punishment. It is another way of discouraging tortures.”

Paraan pointed out that TCMP was considered a success in Region 4A jails, and Dorigo “would like to do the same here in NCR.”

Dorigo said the TCMP will start with a week-long training for wardens and other jail personnel to ensure better implementation of the programs.