For Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL), holidays often carry a bittersweet weight. Rey, one of the incarcerated individuals at Iligan City Jail-Male Dormitory, knows this feeling all too well. Every February, he used to surprise his wife with flowers and a quiet dinner at home. This year, however, he could not walk through the door with roses in hand. Instead, he found himself inside the facility, longing for the warmth of family traditions.
But on Valentine’s Day, the Iligan City Jail-Male Dormitory (ICJMD) opened its gates to love in a different form. The facility mounted a series of activities designed to help PDLs like Rey reconnect with their families and navigate the emotional challenges of being away during red-letter days.
Families were welcomed for a whole-day visitation, giving them precious hours to bond with their loved ones. Incarcerated PDLs handed flowers to their partners, parents, and children—a simple gesture that carried profound meaning. A photo booth was set up, allowing families to capture moments together, with free prints serving as keepsakes of love that transcends walls. The day was capped off with a live band concert, featuring ICJMD’s official PDL band, ‘Contraband’, serenading the crowd with love songs.
City Jail Warden JCINSP Carmelo A Corsame emphasized the importance of such initiatives: “Holidays and special occasions stir deep emotions among PDLs. These activities help them process those feelings in healthy ways—by reconnecting with family, expressing love, and remembering that they are still part of a community. It’s about giving them hope and reminding them that rehabilitation includes emotional well-being.”
For Rey, handing a flower to his wife inside the jail walls was not the Valentine’s Day he once knew, but it was a reminder that love can endure even in confinement. The laughter of children, the tears of mothers, and the music of ‘Contraband’ filled the facility with a rare kind of freedom—the freedom to feel loved.
