NAGA CITY—The steel-cold prison bars of Naga City District Jail have not stopped inmates from keeping the faith. On Holy Monday, while the sky over Naga City was crisp after a drizzle, Eden de Lima, 59, along with other inmates, was thinking how to raise money from among themselves so they could buy rice, fish, vegetables, coffee, cheap bread, ginger (for salabat), and pansit for the meals of the 20 persons who will sing the Bicol version of “Pasyon.”
The singing of Pasyon would start soon after dusk of Maundy Thursday, and de Lima was expecting almost all inmates, regardless of religion or sect, to intently participate in the vigil, which should end on either cockcrow or early morning of Good Friday.
“We have been doing this every year to keep up with the tradition,” said de Lima, who was the “mayor” (leader) of the women’s cell.
“But this year we have decided to invite Pasyon singers from ‘outside’ so we will know how the manner of singing has changed.”
She said her six years in Naga City District Jail had enabled him to witness how the tradition had changed inmates, especially male ones.
“Those who are too ‘radical’ have mellowed down. Those who are impolite have been more courteous.”
She said some of those who participated in singing of the Pasyon either had their cases dismissed or had received lower penalties.
She said the activity was originally intended for inmates who had “panuga” (pledges) to sing Pasyon every Lent. But soon it became a chance for inmates to petition for many things—from visits from their families to resolution of their cases.
“We are happy that prison administrators have been very sympathetic to the activity.”
Donations
Their warden, Jail Inspector Arlene Señar, donated ten kilograms of malagkit (glutinous rice) and pansit for the snacks of Pasyon readers and singers. “They need snacks for the vigil,” said Señar.
She said she thought of donating goods to lessen the expenses.
“Pasyon”
For the singing of Pasyon on Holy Thursday, each prison cell has to produce about P200 to shoulder the expenses.
“During singing of Pasyon, cell partitions are temporarily torn down to give space to the readers cum singers. The image of Jesus Christ in the prison corridor is used as centerpiece,” said Señar.
“Based on observations, inmates are always in reflective moods during the singing of Pasyon. Even those who are not Catholics remain behaved. We never have had security problems.”
But she said they still keep watch. “Incidentally, we are on red alert status every Holy Week so all jail personnel are in duty.”
Not devout Catholic
For six years, de Lima has been an inmate after she was charged of 73 counts of large-scale illegal recruitment.
She had been a sugarcane farm worker in Camarines, Sur and a domestic helper in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
She said she was innocent of the crime she was charged of, adding that she only was working for an agency.
Now, she is waiting for the resolution of her case to be promulgated in May. Her lawyer was hopeful that the result would favor her. When she became an inmate, she started a choir comprised of fellow inmates who would sing whenever Mass would be held at the jail chapel. And she had been very active in preparing for the singing of Pasyon in jail every Holy Thursday.
“I have been singing Pasyon not since I became an inmate. It is a family tradition and it has been my pledge too.
“I also consider singing it as a chance for me to ask God to give me the chance to atone for whatever wrong I have done.”
She would ask God every time she would sing Pasyon to give her the chance to let the persons she could have wronged know that she never meant to do harm to them.
“I am happy that God seems to have been listening to my pleas. Now, I am finding it easier to pass the days while in jail. My children are not ashamed of me. They understand my situation. And they have been visiting me regularly.”
She had learned many things while in prison, with the help of her “rediscovered” faith.
She was not a very devout Catholic the time she was “outside.” “Yes, I go to Mass but sometimes I did not care about what the priest is saying.”
She had the chance to re-examine her relationship with God while in prison. She said she had realized while in prison that it was good to be meek and to be very patient. “There are times when I should rather be quiet even during times when others are treating me as an outcast just because I am a prisoner.”
“I know God put me in this place so I may know that some of the things I did were mistakes.”
She said by singing Pasyon, she had been able to ask for forgiveness from God. She said even after the resolution of her case, or by the time she returns to normal life “outside,” she would always come to the district jail every Holy Thursday to sing Pasyon with inmates. “This is a promise.”
Assurance
Ronald Dig, 26, an inmate for two years now, has been singing Pasyon too. It was his way of asking God for assurance that his family would not desert him.
Dig was once a driver and an automotive shop worker. He said bad influence led him to jail.
“I was a non-believer when I was ‘outside.’ That changed when I became an inmate. I realized that God is really good because my family have not abandoned me after all.”
He said on Holy Thursday he would sing Pasyon to ask God to let him see how his two children have grown up while he was spending his days in prison. He said his two children had not paid him visit while he was in prison because they were living in a far-off town with his in-laws.
“I told my in-laws to just spend the money for other more important things rather than spending it as fare.” Inmates at the Naga City District Jail are not convicts but those who still are being tried.