Freed inmate prefers to stay in jail

Being a prison maintenance man is his way to thank those who treated him well in CPDRC

Timoteo Lucernas is no longer an inmate of the Cebu Provincial jail but he is the new all around maintenance man.
(CDN PHOTO/MELISSA Q. CABAHUG)

He was free to walk away from jail after he was acquitted last month of the rape charges filed against him, but Timoteo Lucernas chose to stay at the Cebu Provincial and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).

This time he stays not as an inmate but as the prison’s job-order employee.

Lucernas, 39,  of San Francisco, Camotes, Cebu said he decided to stay instead of going back home as a way of paying his debt of gratitude to jail personnel and fellow inmates, who have treated him well in his 10 years of stay in prison.

“Gusto sad ko nga makatabang sad diri sa kaubanan pod. Bisan naa na ko diri sa gawas, mapasalamaton kaayo ko nga gitagaan ta og higayon sa atong gobyerno nga makatrabaho lang gihapon (I also would like to help my fellow inmates. Even if I’m already out of jail, I’m grateful to have been  given a job by the government),” he said.

Lucernas is now employed at the CPDRC as an all-around maintenance man.

In early 2000, Lucernas, who served as an appliance technician in the Middle East for five years, went home after his contract expired.

He was happy to be home because he could spend more quality time with his family.

But everything turned into a nightmare when he was accused of raping his neighbor.

It was 2005 and he was detained at the CPDRC as he faced the rape charges filed against him.

It was a difficult 10 years in jail as his mother and siblings seldom visited him because of the distance of the jail from their hometown, and they could not afford the fare. He also broke up with his wife long before he was charged in court.

PRAYERS
On his first year in jail, Lucernas said everything went blank — there were a lot of questions in his mind, which was a sign that he no longer knew what to do. What saved him was prayer – something that most people turn to when they faced with problems.

¨Ampo sa Ginoo jod bisan sa sitwasyon nga ing-ana, usahay magsakit gali ko maghuna-huna kay akong kaila murag di nako nila ilhon (I prayed to God even if the situation was really difficult. I sometimes got sick by just thinking about my friends and relatives treating me like they don’t know me anymore),” he said.

Aside from his personal problems, he and his fellow inmates had to cope with difficulties in jail especially during the previous administration when all inmates would be punished because of one inmate’s wrongdoing.

¨Naa galiy makasala nga inmate sa una, masayop man sad ta, mahibaw-an gali nila adto nga nakasala, kami tanan, padlock jod mi, punish jod mi asta mga recreation dira, tangtang jod, bisan usa ra ang nakasala (If there one inmate does  something wrong and this is found out, then all inmates suffer. We’d be locked in our cells. We had no recreation time. All because of one inmate making a mistake),¨ said Lucernas.

HOPE
He said when the new administration took over, he felt hope that one day, he would be freed and the charges against him would be dismissed and perhaps he’d get to  experience life outside the jail again.

Now, that he is freed, he feels obligated to pay his debt of gratitude to the jail management.

For his fellow inmates, whether the charges they are facing are true or not, he advised them not to lose hope.

¨Dili ta mawad-an sa paglaom sa kinabuhi nga bisan og binilanggo ta. Usahay makaingon ta nga mahikawan ta sa atong kagawasan komo kay naa tay nagkadaiyang kaso nga giatubang. Dili sila mawad-an sa ilang paglaom nga moabot ra gihapon ang adlaw nga ihatag sa ilang kalayaan (Let us not lose hope in life even if we are inmates. Sometimes we can say that they took away our freedom because of the cases we face. Let us not lose hope because a day will come when freedom will be given back to us.,” he said.

Lucernas also shared his secret in accepting his stay in jail.

¨Respeto lang gyod sa usag usa kay common man kaayo nang kagubot. Respeto sa nanungkulan sa sulod, and then labaw sa tanan, magbinut-an lang sad kay sama nako, gibuligan intawn sa kahitas-an — dunay tawo nga gihimong instrumento sa Diyos nga hatagan pod kog chance nga mabuhi (We should show respect for each other inside the jail because that is the common reason for trouble in jail.

Respect to those who watch over us, but most of all, we should try to be good because your goodness will bear fruit in the end and you will be given graces from above. Like me, there were people who became instruments to give me a second chance at life) ,” said Lucernas.

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