Thursday, December 08, 2005

WOW.

I just got home from our trip to Bilibid Prison. I was deeply touched. It was an eye-opening experience. It was really fun. I enjoyed the student-prisoner's presentations very much. They're really talented. Grabe.

I arrived at UST at about 6:15 in the morning since they told us that we should be there on 6:30. We were supposed to leave at 7 o'clock but as usual, the buses were late. And we left UST at about 8:30. Filipino time talga.

We first visisted the "maximum prison" where the most notorious criminals in the country were. The guys had to be seperated from the girls 'coz they had to be "stamped" so that they wouldn't be mistaken for inmates trying to escape. We weren't allowed to interact with them(SAYANG! baka makita ko pa si Hubert Webb heheh..) We just looked at them from the rooftop. I felt really sad for them. And I thought it was a really inhuman for us to look at them like "hamsters". While we were just observing them, I felt this really horrible feeling inside of me. Basta.. it's hard to explain. T____T I really felt horrible.

Then we went to the lethal injection chamber. Well, not exactly inside. We were only allowed inside a mini museum of some sort. Inside was a replica of the "electric chair" that they used to kill the prisoners. T___T

Next, we headed to the "medium prison" for our next activities. We stayed in the bus for like 40 minutes because we had to wait for the other buses to arive. It was lunch time and everyone was so damn hungry. But we can't eat til' we get inside.

All the other bus have arrived and we were instructed to get inside. I was really nervous at first but was relieved when we were warmly welcomed by the prisoners. There was a band playing when we got to the activity hall. When everyone got inside, they started the program. First up was.. the interaction with the inmates. Me and my partner Nicole sat among the first three rows. And thank goodness we did. We were paired with the "building governors". Lucky me. There are 12 building governors in total.

I got paired with Mang Antonio. And he's really not scary at all. Infact, he looked like a very sweet and caring lolo to me. ^______^ He's one of the building governors, other wise known as "mayor". Sila yung mga SIGA sa loob na naguutos-utos lang. He is the one incharge of the student's dormitory building and the primary kitchen. And he also teaches the student-prisoners. He handles about 500 prisoners. He's kind of in a gang or a leader of a gang. And since he's a mayor, he enjoys a lot of priveleges, like..he has his own room. electric fan, sari-sari store.. mga ganun. I was really nervous at first. This is my first time to interact with a prisoner.


Anyways, we had lunch. I brought him Chicken & Rice, ham and cheese sandwich and water from Burger King. I bought him coke actually, but I wasn't able to bring it inside 'coz coke in cans were prohibited. Sayang talga.. I could have brought more for him. tsk tsk.. I was really shy at first but as the conversation went on, I felt at ease with him. First, I introduced myself to him and told him a couple of things about my life. When I ran out of things to say, I ended up telling him how I hated to be a journalist, that journalists are killed, and that I didn't really want to take up this course anyway... things like that. After saying things like that, I really felt stupid. He must be getting bored with me. I'm not a good conversationalist at all.

He told me a lot about his life before prison. His work, family, lovelife hehe..Actually, we had some similarities as well, he too did not like the course he took up at college. He was also kind of rebellious to his parents like me. ^_____^ I was impressed with some of the stories he told me. He really inspired me in a lot of ways. Even though he's in prison, he's still income generating. He's also an adventist. IDOL ko sya actually, he's a non-smoker, and he believes that it's really wrong to have many wives/women in his life.

In the middle of the conversation, I decided to blurt out the most sensitive question that I've been eager to ask him since the conversation started ...

" Umm.. kung ok lang po, pwede po bang itanong kung pano kayo napunta dito? ano pong ginawa nyo?"

I could see how the expression on his face change when I asked the question. I was really surprised when he answered with a big grin on his face. I was kind of expecting that he would be kind of vague to answer my question.

HIS CRIME: he killed 3 policemen for self-defense. He spent 35 years in prison and he's finally getting out this december. YEY!

It's a long story actually, I wont put our whole conversation here simly because it's none of your beezwax!!! It's too complicated. Anyways, when the conversation was nearing to the end, a gay prisoner came to us and kinda forced me to buy their product. When I said no, Mang Antonio called back the gay and he bought me this small basket/pouch shaped like a grenade..



After the getting-to-know conversation, the next program started. The student prisoners presented a play, sang, and danced. They're really talented actors. I also bought this from one of the prisoners outside of the hall for only 10 pesos...



I really felt sad for when we had to say goodbye. I got more depressed when I saw my classmates say goodbye to their inmates. I didn't get to see Mang Antonio again. I was hoping to see him while we were walking out. I wanted to hug him and say thankyou for this eye-opening experience. This experience made me realize how lucky and blessed I am to be where I am right now. And I also think that this experience has made me a better person. I am very thankful for this experience and I will cherish it for the rest of my life.

SANA BUMALIK KAMI DUN!

silent_incantations
were spoken at...7:55 AM