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By Rhaydz B. Barcia Correspondent
LEGAZPI CITY: Marco Tolentino,
(not his real name), now 15 and going on 16, was sentenced to prison
for two years and four months by the Regional Trial Court, but he
has been languishing in jail much longer than his sentence.
Marco, whose address is the
Philippine National Railway site in this city, told The Manila Times
that he was sent to jail when he was 13 years old for involvement in
a robbery.
Marco is among the 13 minor
inmates in conflict with the law held at the juvenile unit of the
Legazpi City Jail. But some of his fellow convicts have been freed
while others were transferred to the regular adult prisoners’
cells.
“I am serving more than my
punishment. I wish I could be freed this Christmas to celebrate my
16th birthday and reunited with my family. Now, I realize how hard
it is to be away from my family. I have no peace,” he told The
Times bitterly.
Marco’s father is a manager of
a well-known bottling company. His mother is a former barangay
official but lost in the October 29 elections. His eldest sister is
a teacher. His older brother is a policeman while the rest of his
four siblings are in school.
He is the fourth child in the
family.
Marco was a high school freshman
then when he was charged with theft by Liberty Commercial Center.
“We were just tripping. My
classmates took a t-shirt and passed it on to me. Unfortunately I
was caught by the roving agents. My more than two years in jail
taught me a lesson. It’s not too late to start a new life of
discipline and goodness. I learned to pray rosary from members of a
religious organization who taught us how to pray and be better
persons. I will pursue my schooling when I’m free,” he said.
The case of Marco does not quite
belong to the “Poor children, Black Christmas” special report.
He is from a well-to-do family. But the other children in the later
part of this article belong to truly poor families.
Marco and his fellow inmates
(Vladimir, 15, Homer, 16, Ramon, 16, not their real names) were
exchanging pleasantries when I went to the Legazpi City Jail on
Friday afternoon. The friendly jail guards allowed me to chat with
the youth inmates.
All of these youth inmates wish
to be freed this Christmas to be with their families. But that
isn’t easy because their cases are tried only once a year.
The serious delay of their trial
is because there is no family court, Jail Officer 3 Arnold Lasam
told me.
“I have been imprisoned for
nearly three years now. There was one hearing this year. If the next
hearing is next year, will I be held in prison for another year? My
sentence is only for two years. I’m sad because I might be in jail
for several years,” Ramon said, echoing Marco’s lament.
Ramon is charged with car theft.
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