The city government has approved a resolution seeking to give former persons deprived of liberty (PDL) a second chance in life through fair practices in job hiring.
In Resolution 555-2021 passed by the council and approved by Mayor Benjamin Magalong on Monday, the city government asked that equal protection, fair treatment, and equal opportunities for employment and livelihood be provided to qualified former PDLs who are bonafide residents of the city’s 128 barangays.
“It is right and just for the concerned government agencies and the local government to provide proper and appropriate attention to former PDLs for new hope and better opportunities for themselves and their families for them to be able to hurdle the difficulties of life that had been seriously aggravated by the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic,” the resolution read.
It added that the community, which is among the pillars of the existing criminal justice system in the country, plays a crucial role in the re-integration of former PDLs into the mainstream society by equally assimilating them into employment and other life-sustaining activities that will help in uplifting their living conditions.
Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan, in a text message on Wednesday, said the council recognized the fact that former PDLs frequently experience discrimination in terms of employment and livelihood and other related opportunities and activities in their respective communities because of the stigma of having been convicted and put behind bars.
The resolution also said the former PDLs had their struggles in seeking employment and other decent occupation as a result of the various kinds of discrimination prompting others to return to their bad ways instead of reforming.
“The PDLs deserve to be given the appropriate chance and opportunity for them to be able to get back their former jobs for them to be able to sustain their being breadwinners. They deserve to be given a second chance to be able to become productive citizens of the community where they belong by being able to land in productive economic activities and uplift their living conditions in the future,” Olowan added.
Source: Philippines News Agency