Inmate runs bakeshop inside national penitentiary

Would you like a cake baked in New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa?

It sounds like a joke but there is a bakery inside the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa, Philippines. What is more incredible is the fact that the bakery is owned and operated by an inmate. He is in fact the baker.

Prison, as most people would imagine from movies, is made up of small dimly lit rooms with grills on windows. It has makeshift dining areas on rickety chairs and tables. There are roving guards tapping the gun on their holsters while swinging a heavy stick with their other hand. An oven, a counter, and kitchenware did not fit into any of those scenes. But that is exactly what they have inside the prison compound.

Fatal fraternity ramble

JV Medalla has been imprisoned in Bilibid for the last several years. He is one of ten incriminated in a high profile case from the nineties involving a clash between two fraternities that ended with an accidental fatality. They swear by their innocence, and their case has bounced in and out of appeals court ever since. JV and the rest of his fraternity brothers were first held in Quezon City Jail, before being later moved to Muntinlupa following their conviction. While inside, they became members of Batang City Jail (BCJ), one of the oldest and most recognizable prison jail gangs in the country y

The stories he shared of his time were surreal, absurd even, punctuated with good-natured laughter. One of his main projects within the prison involved holding and managing events. One event he hosted was the Bilibid Iron Chef competition, a simplified version of TV’s popular Iron Chef franchise. Groups within the compound were challenged to put together a three-course meal based on a surprise main ingredient. He hopes one day to be released on parole for good behaviour.

Meet JV Medalla, a resident of the Maximum Security Compound of the New Bilibid Prison.

Updated: 2014-04-01 — 19:08:13