PHL prisons start 'e-visit' program for inmates

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) is piloting an “e-dalaw" or e-visit initiative to allow inmates to meet their loved ones online. Inmates at the Quezon City Jail got the first crack at the pioneering online program on Thursday when officials of the BJMP and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) officially launched the initiative. To get the project rolling, the OSG provided five computer sets to allow inmates to chat with their families, relatives and friends abroad and those who cannot visit them in jail. A newspaper report said that chat requests should initiated by relatives and not by the inmates. Inmates can chat on cam via Skype using five skype names: qcj_uno, qcj_dos, qcj_tres, qcj_quatro and qcj_cinco. Interested chatters may invite the Skype names and write the name of the inmates they wish to talk in the message box. A BJMP officer in-charge will facilitate all the transactions. — Newsbytes.ph