ILOILO City – It’s lonelier to mark the holidays in jail, according to two persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Barangay Ungka, Jaro district. They hoped to spend it next year with their loved ones.
Thirty-seven-year-old Shanon Feo of Barangay Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo hoped for liberty after being imprisoned for eight years now. He faces charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
“Naga-hope gid ‘ko nga maka guwa diri kag makaupod ko akon 72-year-old nga nanay. Ang akon tatay napatay last year tungod sa COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). Gusto ko pun-an ang akon kakulangan sa akon nanay kay pasaway ako sang una,” Feo told Panay News.
Feo said he would look for work to help his sick mother by the time he would be out of prison.
“Ma-bag-o naku kay kabudlay gid sa prisohan,” he said.
In 2014, anti-drug operatives of the Iloilo City Police Office arrested him in a buy-bust operation outside a mall in the City Proper.
“Sa sulod sang jail natun-an ko magkilala kay God. Naging malapit na ako sa iya kay may religious meetings kami sa sulod. Amo ‘na nga nag-decide ako nga kon makagwa ako maging maayo ako nga bata,” Feo said while crying.
He is expecting to be released in January after applying for a plea bargaining agreement.
Feo has two daughters from two different women. His eldest was 19 years old living with her mother in Iloilo City and the 10-year-old in Singapore.
“Tani indi nila ako pag e-judge kay indi tanan nga PDLs malain. Tani buligan man nila ako kay gusto ko magba-o gid,” Feo said.
Meanwhile, at the age of 19, Mike Tapel of Cuartero, Capiz was jailed for killing his co-worker.
“Biktima ako sang serkomstansya,” said Tapel. “Indi ko hungod nga patyon kay kon wala ko sia ginpatay ako man iya patyon.”
The incident happened in January 2018 in Barangay Cuartero, Jaro.
He said a misunderstanding led to the stabbing.
“During that time, hubog sia so nag-maoy. Gusto ko maglikaw sa gamo kay naga obra ako sang matarong para makabulig sa parents ko kaso wala ako mahimo. I only defended myself,” he added./PN
