Bilibid Stories: I asked an inmate what led him to be incarcerated. His reply surprised me. He simply said, “Hindi nakinig sa nanay.” He then explained that all that his mother wanted him to be was to be a good man which he said was not really difficult. His mother did not say anything about him to be rich or famous or powerful. All she wanted was for him to be a good man. And he said that his mother never lacked in reminding him of this. Yet he said he failed her. He is in prison because he did not listen to his mother. He is in prison because he did not take his mother’s wishes seriously. He shared that every time he thought of his mother, he felt bad and remorseful. Tears began to fall which he immediately wiped away. He hoped that by choice to study in the college inside prison would give him the opportunity to make amends with his mother and to give her hope and a sense of joy. He added that it was her mother’s desire for him to study in college.
He then proceeded to thank me. I asked him why. He said it was me who advised him to study and in the process made him remember his mother’s wish. He reminded me of an afternoon when he was seated under a shade inside the prison camp. He said I had asked someone to call him which he initially thought was a joke. When he saw me, he saw me motion him to approach me. He recalled that I had asked him what he was doing. To this he replied, “wala lang.” He said I had asked him then why he did not study. This he said reminded him to somehow assess his life, which then made him remember his mother and which eventually led him to enroll in the college.
He thanked me again. He said his choice to study gave him hope. He thought he was a hopeless case. He had spent years already doing nothing. Yet he realized that there is still an opportunity to make his mother proud and happy. He still has the chance not to undo the past but to live in the present and hopefully, look forward to a better future. He opined that he now has the ability to do something worthwhile with his life.
Let us pray for him and thousands like him that they may see their incarceration not as God closing doors on them but giving them opportunities for change. Let us pray that they may realize that their imprisonment is not simply a punishment for a crime but also an occasion to reform, a chance to choose to be worthwhile.#BilibidStories
Asienhaus - Philippinen: https://www.asienhaus.de/philippinenbuero/
