Three inmates took the first three places in the Low Fade category of the San Juan Beauty Show 2026 barbering competition, Corrections and Rehabilitation Department (DCR) Secretary Julie Gómez Gómez announced. The event was held November 8 and 9 at the Convention Center in Miramar, where brands, educators, distributors, salon owners and beauty-industry professionals gathered in Puerto Rico.
According to the DCR, the winners were Luis Torres Marrero of the Ponce 1000 Correctional Institution, first place; Emmanuel Cardona Vicente, also of Ponce 1000, second place; and Christian Ortiz Cartagena of Ponce Principal, third place. The agency did not specify the crimes for which the awarded participants are serving sentences. Gómez Gómez said the three first places represent "much more than a recognition" and are the result of talent, discipline and commitment by people who have chosen to take advantage of rehabilitation opportunities.
She said it is satisfying that students from the institutions, including young people and women, can learn, compete and show their abilities. Participation included students from adult, youth and women’s correctional institutions, who received workshops on barbering and styling trends and competed in barbering, nails and makeup. In barbering, students competed in the High Fade and Low Fade occupational categories, which test precision, tool handling and cutting technique.
The DCR said the participation is part of training that seeks to give inmates tools for life outside, in line with Governor Jenniffer González Colón’s public policy of strengthening rehabilitation programs through educational and occupational training for reintegration into society.