Ronan Y.

Villagonzalo

21 June 2019

New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Visit

When Doc Kit announced in class that we will visit the New Bilibid Prison as part of the service learning
program requirement, I did not feel bothered or squeamish. I have visited several prisons and city jails. I have
seen damp, tiny jail cells cramped with Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) with no beds or chairs or any
furniture. I then set my mind that I will witness worse conditions in our upcoming visit.

The van arrived at our Makati meeting place a couple of minutes after I was able to order and finish my
breakfast. As it was still very early in the morning, traffic flow on the highways were fast and smooth. And
eventually, we reached the New Bilibid Prison.

Masid-Danas (What?)
The lush color of green greeted my view when our vehicle entered the NBP compound. Trees, grasses, and
shrubs surrounded the center field where morning exercisers were jogging and walking their dogs. Several
platoons of jail guards were also in formation and a couple of squads doing arnis-kali-eskrima exercises. It
seemed that we were visiting a giant park or a vast academic ground.

After some introductory briefings, my classmates and I, and other classes gathered in front of the entrance of
the Medium Security Facility. We lined up, were body-frisked, our belongings and food inspected, and our
identification cards collected. And this was when I was dismayed of the inefficient procedure we were
subjected to. The jail officers did not coordinate with themselves properly. It was as if this was the first time
they facilitated a visiting group as big as ours.

Walking inside the facility leading towards the Basic Literacy Program (BLP) classroom, we were greeted by
“Good mornings” and the smiling faces of the inmates. We passed by food vendors, small carinderias, some
barbershops, and a couple of basketball courts and billiard tables where men were playing. It was like a small
village or barangay that was complete in itself. Except that I did not see any women around.

The BLP students presented songs, a drama skit, and a comedy act for us. We cheered them and applauded
their performances and they seemed to have been very pleased with the attention they were receiving from
their visitors.

During the one-on-one session, all the visitors were assigned a PDL to converse with. I talked to Joseph about
how he got into the NBP, his family, and his plans after he will finish his sentence.

Three (3) things struck me: 1) His family has never visited him in the 3 years he was confined and that he does
not want to see his family again; 2) that he wants to marry and build his own family when he gets his freedom
back, and 3) at 21 years old, he does not know how to read “GATORADE”, and does not know how to multiply
and divide numbers.

Suri-Nilay (So What?)

I realized that a lot of these PDLs are illiterate and somehow, they are trying to maximize their time inside the
NBP to learn how to read and to count. As a former professional teacher in a private school, I felt pity knowing
that these grown men know less about number and words compared to my former elementary students aged
10 to 12 years old.

However, it was also uplifted to know that they have dreams they want to fulfil after imprisonment and they try
to prepare and build these plans little by little even while they are inside the NBP – they are diligently attending
school and studying under the BLP.

Taya-Kilos (Now What?)

My groupmates have had a variety of experience on education, tutorials, and trainings. I have been an
educator for four (4) years in a school setting and even several years after outside of the academe.
Capitalizing on our skill set, we designed our proposal to focus on coaching the new teachers so they will be
able to manage classrooms better and deliver lessons more effectively. The program is also aimed at
enhancing the interest, motivation, and the learning pace of the adult learners.

I hope that the program that we are designing and will implement in the following weeks will impact the PDLs in
the long term as they fulfill their goals when they regain freedom.

-end-