Prison is the place where criminals are confined but doest it mean that they don’t deserve any justice even they commit things that made them to where they are right now?

In our exposure trip at Camp Sampaguita in the New Bilibid Prisons, we saw hundreds of faces of the said criminals. We interact with them and asked some details about their life then and now.

My inmate partner Teddy, 39, says he committed homicide to have a so called “revenge” on his father’s death. There are three persons involved in the criminal act made to his father. The first man caused him to be on where he is right now – inside the bars and the other two are still wandering freely and we do not know who their next victim is and if again they will plunge to those alcoholic drinks and be unconscious to what they are doing. In this case, is justice really justice?

Teddy didn’t really want to be in prison but those guys put him there. People around us can push us to do something bad that can result also to something bad.

Being in the prison for almost seven years and will spend eleven more years inside, what can be witnessed by his eyes inside?

In those old Filipino movies, Bilibid prisoners are very war freak. The environment we saw in there when we visit it is so calm and peaceful, very different from the movies and I’m starting to wonder if these things really do happen when no visitor is on their sight.

The rancho (food of prisoners) served to the inmates do have pork and beef but it is not well cooked. It looks like a food for the pig which is so messy that you can’t even stand to taste it on your very first day in the prison. Yes, they eat food but is this what you call food for humans? Even Hog raisers care too much on their pig’s food so why not human care for human’s food? Prisoners just committed mistakes and it is not right to treat them as animals.

I understand that criminals are meant to suffer inside the prison but why also affect their health? Having them inside the prison can cause them so much pain for they are far from their loved ones. Isn’t that enough?

I have many questions popping in my mind by the time I saw those faces of the prisoners longing for their families except for this particular inmate. He is the partner of my friend Joesie, he said that he have done all bad things and the worst of them all is drug pushing. It is the crime that put him there and will get back to that job once he got out from Bilibid.

It is a shocking statement made by him that while my friend Joesie is telling that to me I realized that not all prisoners are contented for what they just had- the life of being a prisoner.

This inmate also said that his wife is going there in Bilibid to even stay for the whole night. Is that allowed? Maybe he has the power and connection to do so.

Even in prison we can see that justice is not fair. We can figure it out by simply interacting to the prisoners.

“…ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayaman

Habang may tatsulok at sila ang nasa tuktok

Di matatapos itong gulo...”

This is a phrase from a song titled “Tatsulok” by Bamboo. The song states that in a triangle, the filthy rich ones are those on top and the poor ones are on the two remaining sides below. Is it true in our society right now? I guess it’s perfectly right.