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BALANGA City, Bataan: Fifteen prisoners out on probation on Thursday
joined their wives in an afternoon of romantic music, movie and
dinner in observance of Valentine’s Day in the Bulwagan ng Bayan-turned
movie house and dining hall at the Bataan Capitol in Balanga City.
The Bataan Parole and Probation Office of the
Department of Justice with the assistance of the provincial
government headed by Gov. Enrique Garcia sponsored the project.
Judea Asuncion, Chief of the BPPO, said the
activity was aimed at strengthening family ties that is considered
as a vital factor towards full rehabilitation and reintegration of
the probationers to mainstream society.
“Most of our clients are underprivileged and
having a dinner date is the least of their priority and most of them
confessed that they have not dated their spouses on Valentine’s
Day or other important occasions,” she said.
Asuncion said the project is the first not only
in Bataan but also in the country to be held by their agency. In
previous years, the PPO conducted seminars and religious retreat for
couples.
She said that with their meager resources, they
could not afford to hold the Valentine’s party in a hotel or
eatery and instead made use of the Bulwagan ng Bayan that is
adjacent to the Office of the Governor.
The probation office staff, composed of Senior
Parole and Probation Officer Dustin Catacutan, Parole and Probation
Officer 2 Richard Salaya and assistant Parole and Probation Officer
Donalisa Natividad, cooked and prepared the food and set the dining
tables.
Catacutan explained that the date was like a
boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. “The couples first saw a movie
and then had dinner together,” he said. At the dining tables after
the film showing, the probationers offered roses and chocolates,
whispered “I love you” to their spouses and kissed each other
before finally having dinner.
Asuncion said that prisoners with sentences of
not more than six years can avail of probation provided they are
first-time offenders and are not a threat to their communities.
“The law offenders under this program stay outside of the prison
cells and given community-based correction thereby de-clogging jails
while speeding their return to being productive in society,” she
said.
In Bataan, there are 200 probationers that the
BPPO refer to as their clients. Most of them were sentenced to
imprisonment in violation of the anti-illegal fishing law, the
provincial parole and probation office head said.
-- Ernie B. Esconde
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