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SETBI ‘s College Education Behind Bars is aholistic approach to address transformation, rehabilitation, reform, and recovery from habits and hangups. The weaponization of the desire for greater freedom underlies such holistic rehabilitative philosophies. Thus, the program uses this desire to be free as a motivation for students’ reform. One of the most wasteful things in life is not being productive or doing nothing. In jails and prisons the captives have much time but little to do. Gardening can have many benefits for youth and adults in these institutions. Growing vegetables, such as okra and lettuce, or fruits, such as watermelon, gives individuals an opportunity to be productive. General knowledge shows that fresh air and sunshine have many health benefits such as reducing stress or depression and increasing energy and concentration, but prison conditions yield a lack of consistent access to nature, outdoor spaces, and good food. Gardening can be therapeutic. The reason gardening seems to be so beneficial to health, mind, and soul is because it combines physical activity with social interaction and exposure to nature and sunlight. Sunlight lowers blood pressure, increases vitamin D levels, reduces stress levels, boosts self-esteem, and accelerates calorie-burning. In addition to these benefits, gardening allows for physical activity, improves hand strength and coordination, and results in financial savings when the produce is available to eat. It can even help PDL bond with their families if they have extra to share. If the gardening is organic, the lack of exposure to chemicals in the cultivation and consumption of food is yet another plus. Furthermore, gardening helps improve the lives of people with substance use disorders inside prison. Building an environment that supports recovery, change, and opportunities for learning, gardening improves self control, develops a sense of shared responsibility and community, as well as increases communication among PDL. Some of the PDL may also continue to garden once they are released. Therefore, they are learning a practical skill that they enjoy doing as a job while incarcerated, that they can use upon release, and that constructively aids them in their recovery process. Continue reading →

PDL are often a forgotten population. Many of us think of them as separate from the rest of society. But they are not. Many PDL sooner or later will be released. Therefore, what happens during their incarceration matters for public safety, our communities, our streets, and human dignity. Demonstrating the power of sports to bring joy to PDL, studies show that sports contribute to the physical and mental health of PDL, reducing stress, depression, and anxiety. SETBI organized basketball games between its PDL students and the “The Ffraternal Order of Eagles Philippines “team because one of the best ways to break stereotypes is to use sports to bring outsiders into contact with PDL. Not only does this exposure alter outsiders’ conceptions of them, but the PDL also benefit from their wider social and psychological exposure, and sports bolster their social reintegration and rehabilitation process. Some of the members of the Eagles team donated shoes and uniforms to the SEBTI basketball players and, subsequently, voiced a willingness to play more games and to help in the future. I would like to thank Jaime De Gorostiza , President of the Davao Orchard Road , Andrew Bautista vice President of the Davao Orchard Road Company, Andrew son Alyandro Miguel Bautista, his daughter, Aliyah Gabrielle Bautista  and the entire Ffraternal Order of Eagles Philippines team for coming and sharing their love and joy with our SEBTI PDL students. Our students loved the camaraderie and sportsmanlike atmosphere. We extend our appreciation to Senior Inspector Edgardo F. Mendoza Jr for supporting the program and for throwing the first ball to inaugurate it. We are very grateful for his leadership in supporting  our PDL  and education of PDL to have a second chance to be transformed and rehabilitated to become better than when they came in. Continue reading →

THE SETBI’s 3rd International Conference is organized by the Social Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Business Institute and the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP). There was a quiet anticipation in the building that housed the University of Southeastern Philippines’ audio-visual room. Participants from various universities from all over the country and government officials get ready for the Third International Conference on Persons Deprived of Liberty’s Transformative Education for Successful Re-entry, a conference initiated by the Social Entrepreneurship Technology and Business Institute. In 2016, Dr Aland Mizell and Atty. Susan P. Cariaga co-founded the first College Education Behind Bars in the Philippines and Southeast Asia after seeing the poor condition of the Davao City Jail. People who were presumed innocent stayed in jail for an average of ten years and all the time they weren’t doing anything. They asked themselves how they could help these people. At first, they wanted to propose a recovery program, but there were already many faith-based groups working with the jail, and what mattered to the people deprived of liberty were jobs.The two decided that if the PDLs were staying there for around ten years, they should get a college degree so they could find a job once they were released. They also agreed that this program should have a component of recovery and rehabilitation. They needed to teach these PDLs how to make the right life choices, or else, the released PDLs may become more clever with their crimes.Therefore, Dr. Mizell made a written proposal and gave it to Jail Management, who immediately approved it. They talked to the USeP president at the time, Dr. Lourdes Generalao over breakfast. They told her their proposal and she immediately jumped on it, agreeing that it was a noble project. She said she would take care of having it approved by her board. It was then that they drafted the Memorandum of Agreement between SETBI, USeP, and the BJMP. They had a tie signing at the Batasan Pambansa, then it was time to hit the ground running. They built the SETBI’s first campus in the Davao City Jail using their own funds since no one wanted to take the risk on them initially, wanting to see if it worked or not. Now, in 2024, it’s clearly working and drawing attention from all over the country and even abroad. Continue reading →

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To facilitate a reflective exploration of the transformative power of education for the country’s prison community, the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) and the Social Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Business Institute (SETBI) jointly hosted the 3rd International Conference on Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL)’s Transformative Education for Successful Re-entry on October 9-11, 2024, at the USeP Obrero Campus, Davao City. Bearing the theme, “Beyond Barriers: Reconnect and Rebuild”, the conference gathered educators, administrators, students, practitioners, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), lawmakers, law enforcers, wardens, and business leaders from different parts of the country and abroad, to deliberate on the topics, issues, and ideas most relevant to higher education in the prison community; thus, invigorating political conversations in the field.USeP Vice President for Research, Development and Extension Dr. Roger C. Montepio opened the conference while SETBI President Dr. Aland D. Mizell and USeP President Dr. Bonifacio G. Gabales, Jr. gave powerful messages contending that higher education coupled with values formation serves as a significant step in reimagining societal privilege and systemic inequalities through the lens of PDLs. Moreover, both underscored that education is a right that must be afforded to all people and that it is a shared responsibility. Continue reading →