Inmates offended by ‘killing’ remark
By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:07:00 10/11/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Prisoners confined at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City were “angered and gravely hurt” by scathing remarks by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Jr. regarding their supposed propensity to “kill each other” inside their detention cell.
The convicts belied Gonzalez’s claim and even challenged him to cite any recent violent incidents directed against wealthy prisoners inside the state penitentiary.
“If he were telling the truth, he should have told the media the last time inmates here mauled or assaulted a rich convict,” Tony, a detainee inside the NBP’s maximum security compound, told the INQUIRER in a text message Saturday.
“Kung hindi siya makapagsabi, malinaw na nagsisinungaling siya. Masakit talaga ang sinabi niya (If he can’t, then he’s clearly lying. He was really insensitive),” he said.
Tony said the prison condition inside the state penitentiary was “very different” from the congested city and provincials jails, where rumbles between warring gangs are common.
NBP chaplain Monsignor Robert Olaguer also disclosed his displeasure over the justice secretary’s statement, saying the situation inside the vast detention complex was “generally peaceful.”
He said prisoners, regardless of their economic conditions before they were incarcerated, were generally supportive of each other.
The inmate, who used the mobile phone of one of NBP’s influential prisoners to send messages to the INQUIRER, said most of them were offended and disappointed by Gonzalez’s view of prisoners’ behavior in detention facilities.
He said Gonzalez’s remarks only showed the discrimination that detainees like him suffer.
When he visited the maximum security compound Saturday, Olaguer said some inmates were obviously angry at Gonzalez for his baseless description of them.
He said he could not remember any incident wherein a poor prisoner robbed, hurt, or killed a wealthy inmate.
“Inmates tend to help, not kill, each other,” the Catholic priest said, referring to Gonzalez’s earlier interview with the INQUIRER.
Olaguer said programs aimed at involving prisoners in religious and church-based activities, livelihood projects, and other worthwhile events helped them abandon their aggressive behavior and make them productive.
He said their volunteer programs which tapped prisoners in providing free paralegal, dental, and medical needs to their fellow inmates “showed how they look after each other.”
“Give me any village with 20,000 grown up men and I can honestly tell you that it’s more peaceful here,” he said.
He said their initiative to recruit former police and military officers in their activities have also prevented deadly confrontations among different “pangkat,” or gangs inside the jail.
Since last year, inmates have also stopped calling each other as “kosa,” short for kakosa (jailmate).
“They now refer to their comrades inside as kuya (elder brother) or ate (elder sister),” he said. “But complete change takes time.”
Another convict said moneyed and influential prisoners -- and not common criminals -- were the ones respected and feared inside the NBP.
“The rich convicts here have the money to order the killing of any inmate. They have the money to ask the jail guards to just turn a blind eye and cover up their wrongdoing,” he said in Filipino.
He said they usually call VIP prisoners, like Claudio Teehankee Jr. and former Zamboanga Del Norte Representative Romeo Jalosjos, as “bosing.”
“They wanted us to call them that way,” he said.
The convict said less fortunate inmates like him did not harbor any ill feeling toward prominent prisoners.
In fact, he said, most of them had been very helpful and understanding of lowly detainees like him.
He said Jalosjos alone bankrolled livelihood projects and provided amenities like the P4-million sound system of the auditorium and tennis court inside the rather insipid jail compound.
“Mabait naman po sila dito. May kalokahan nga lang (They’re OK, although sometimes they’re a bit naughty),” he said.
Olaguer also cited Jalosjos for helping poor convicts through his Lamb of God Foundation, which gives out folding beds, among others.
|
