SuGod program to help soon to be free inmates
With some drug personalities now allowed to get plea bargain deals to cut jail time, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) does not want to take any chances.
Senior Supt. Royina Garma, director of the CCPO, has tapped the Archdiocese of Cebu to help make sure that inmates who avail of the plea bargain deals will not return to their old paths and instead reform their lives.
“We’re worried that these inmates, once they are freed, will again cause headaches to society. I believe we still can do something about it,” she said in a talk with Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.
The prelate then instructed Fe Barino, one of the organizers of a drug recovery program called Surrender to God (SuGod), to discuss with Garma and jail officials on how to mold the conscience of inmates who were on their way out of the prison.
About 3,000 inmates of the Cebu City Jail are set to avail of the plea bargain deals, Barino said.
When the program started last week, she said, at least 51 inmates took part in the drug recovery and renewal program which offers scientific, educational and spiritual elements in a non-threatening and loving environment that encourages drug users to start living a clean life.
“I understand the need for an intervention before they will be released from prison. Many of them have problem on drug addiction and there’s a possibility that they will create chaos once they step out of the jail,” Barino told Cebu Daily News.
“We want to help them get rid of whatever that hound them so they won’t return to their old ways. We will give them the tools they need. They have to establish a relationship with God so they know who to cling on in times of temptations,” she added.
Killing won’t solve drug problem
Barino believed that killing drug suspects is never the solution to the drug menace in the country.
“I don’t agree with killing them. We are but Christians. We value life. As much as possible, we need to save them. There’s hope, and there are other alternatives aside from killing people,” she explained.
Barino’s SuGod program based in Liloan town now has 724 graduates since it started in 2016.
Another batch will undergo the program on Nov. 5.
Barino said she will also gather organizers of other residential rehabilitation facilities and community-based programs who attend to victims of illegal drugs.
Through their own efforts, she said they could help address the country’s problems, particularly criminality.
Plea bargaining
Last year, the Supreme Court allowed plea bargaining in drug cases.
Plea bargaining is when you plead guilty to a lesser offense hence getting a lighter sentence.
Those caught with possession of small quantities of shabu, marijuana, and other prohibited drugs will be allowed to plead guilty to a lesser offense.
Possession of above 10 grams of shabu, opium, morphine, heroin and cocaine, and above 500 grams of marijuana will not be allowed to enter a plea bargaining agreement.
Only those arrested for selling or trading up to 0.99 grams of shabu and up to 9.99 grams of marijuana will be allowed to enter into a plea bargain deal.
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