Last January, convicted criminals at the New Bilibid Prison in the Philippines faced off against each other in the “Iron Bar Chef”–a new rehabilitation/recreation program for inmates. It has been several months but it is only now that I got the time to write about it.
This program was patterned after the cooking show on TV, Iron Chef, and the teams of contestants were asked to prepare their own versions of a main course, appetizer and dessert in 60 minutes (1 hour).
There were six teams that participated and each one had three men on the team. They were given fresh
ingredients like meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables and fruits. And they were able to come up with unique dishes because of the contestants worked in food-related businesses before they were convicted.
“Our ultimate goal is for the inmates to be productive while in prison,” Chief Superintendent Richard Schwarzkopf said during the showdown last January 7, 2012. The NBP is the largest prison in the country. The maximum security section alone has 12,000 inmates. The chief added, “That’s what we want to give them. So that when the time for their freedom comes, they can be of benefit to society.”
I think this is a great program that should be continued by the NBP.