ILOILO City – A halfway house and livelihood training center for the province of Guimaras, were recently completed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Guimaras District Engineering Office in convergence with the Department of Justice – Parole and Probation Administration (DOJ-PPA).
The facility – a first of its kind in Western Visayas – was built on a two-hectare land area donated by landowners in Barangay Lanipe, Nueva Valencia town.
Acting District Engineer Rhodora Nuñal said the project, worth P51.674 million, was funded under the District’s 2018 Special Infrastructure Projects. It involved the construction of two buildings – one will serve as a halfway house and the other as livelihood training center with amenities, perimeter fence and parking area.
“The halfway house will serve as temporary home for probationers, parolees and conditional pardonees, while the livelihood training center will serve as a multipurpose building, providing a permanent venue for livelihood activities, leadership training, team building activities and other activities of various government agencies and private institutions in the province,” Nuñal said.
The center is now ready to be utilized as a facility to cater for the reformative needs of the target clients as well as for other agencies who wish to conduct various trainings there.
DOJ-PPA administrator Dr. Manuel Co said the halfway house was a dream come true.
“With the help provided by DPWH, the goal to rehabilitate the probationers and parolees, promoting their development as individuals has now become easier,” Co said. (DPWH-6/PN)
