Sto. Niño visits jail, inspires 2,000 inmates

At 82 years old, David Salonoy is the oldest inmate in the male dormitory of the Cebu City Jail. He waited under the sun for about an hour last Wednesday  outside the jail’s chapel, where a   Mass was said in honor of the Sto. Niño, whose image stayed with the detainees overnight.

“Makagawas na unta ko aron makauli ko sa among bukid (I hope I will be freed so I can go home),” said Salonoy.

He said he he’s been a devotee of the Sto. Niño de Cebu since he was a child.  Every year, he would travel from his hometown,  Dalaguete, south  Cebu, to visit the Basilica del Sto. Niño.

In 2009, Salonoy was accused of raping a 22-year-old female neighbor.  He was arrested moments after he went to the basilica.

“Nalipay ko nga nga niduaw ang Sto. Niño. (I’m happy that the Sto. Niño visited us),” said Salanoy, a farmer and father of seven children.

He was  among the 2,017 male inmates who paid homage to the Holy Child at the Cebu City Jail.

Supt. Johnson Calub, jail warden, said the Sto. Niño’s  visit  would inspire inmates to renew  their lives.

Calub said he hopes the “Duaw Señor Santo Niño sa Mga Preso sa Sugbu” would  become a regular activity of the annual Fiesta Señor celebration.

This year was the first time the image was brought to the jail during the fiesta week.

For the past two years, the visits were made a few days after the end of the feast, which falls on the third week of Sunday.

“The visit of the Sto. Niño encouraged us to open our hearts to make Him the center of our lives,” he said.

Inspired by the Sto. Niño and the lives of the inmates, Calub composed a song titled “Sto. Niño Lamdagi Ako.”

The song relays the prayer of a confessed sinner who acknowledged God in his life.

Fr. Tito Soquiño and Fr. Bartolome Sagadal, chaplain of the Bureau of  Jail  Management and Penology, also attended Wednesday’s  Mass.

In his homily, Sagadal urged  detainees to never lose hope and take refuge in the Sto. Niño.

“Moduol ta sa Sto. Niño aron mabag-o ang dagway sa atong pamilya (Let us come before the Sto. Niño so our families will be renewed),” he said.

Sagada led  inmates in saying, “Satanas, pahawa. Sto. Niño, sulod kanako.”

He lamented that the BJMP lands in the  limelight when an inmate escapes or if drugs are found inside the jail.

Sagadal said they have been implementing reform programs for inmates.

“Our contribution is to be God’s steward,” he said.

A group of inmates danced the sinulog after the Mass.

The Sto. Niño was brought to the Cebu City Jail last Tuesday and was brought back to the basilica in a motorcade Wednesday afternoon.

The Augustinian fathers brought the image of the Child Jesus to the Cebu City  Jail   to give prisoners a chance to pay homage to the  Sto . Niño during his feast.