Author Topic: Prison won’t hold back Cebuano student’s dream  (Read 993 times)

hubag bohol

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By Edison delos Angeles
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:55:00 05/06/2011


CEBU CITY, Philippines—He had spent four years in jail on a rape charge that was eventually dismissed, but Bryan Fernandez never let go of his dream of getting a college degree.

When he was finally freed, Fernandez went to the capitol to apply for a scholarship offered to former detainees of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).

“Even when in jail, I was already telling myself that I need to pursue my studies and get a degree not just for the sake of pasikat but also for my family because I did not come from a rich family,” he tells the Inquirer.

His efforts paid off. On March 27, the 28-year-old native of Dumanjug town in Cebu graduated—with honors—with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Cebu Normal University (CNU).

Fernandez dedicates his accomplishment to his grandmother, Concepcion, who went up on stage and placed his medal around his neck. “She is already very old and I wanted her to witness my graduation,” he says.

Fernandez grew up with his mother and grandmother after his father left him when he was an infant. He never knew his father.

He was a sophomore education student of CNU when he was accused of rape in 2000.

“When I knew I had a case (filed against me), I stopped going to school for two years until such time that a warrant of arrest was issued by court,” he explains.

Policemen went to his house in Dumanjug town in February 2002 to serve the warrant. He didn’t resist arrest but he insisted that he was innocent.

Fernandez was detained at the CPDRC. “It’s all a matter of accepting that I was in jail,” he explains of his life in prison.

To let time pass, he was one of the facility’s lay ministers who were teaching catechism in coordination with the Cebu Archdiocesan Prison Apostolate Affairs.

When they learned that he was a college student, the jail officials requested him to perform administrative tasks, including supervising a soap-making project. He also had some chores, such as cooking.



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hubag bohol

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Re: Prison won’t hold back Cebuano student’s dream
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2011, 06:07:56 AM »

Fernandez spent four years and 10 months in jail. On Dec. 3, 2006, he was freed after the case against him was dismissed when the complainant failed to appear in court hearings.

He stayed with priests at the convent of the Gethsemane Parish in Barangay Casuntingan in Mandaue City, and worked there as an assistant secretary.

In 2007, a priest offered him a job so he could earn his way through college, but he decided to avail himself of the scholarship program offered by the provincial government to former detainees. He didn’t put his address though because he wasn’t sure of being accepted.

To his surprise, Fernandez received a letter from the CPDRC, asking him to go to the facility and to the capitol because Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia wanted to personally inform him that his scholarship application had been granted and that he had to undergo screening for the program.

It had taken the jail officials at least four months to trace his address and inform him of the good news.

The next hurdle was CNU’s policy that requires students who skipped school for at least five years to take an entrance examination prior to enrollment.

Through the intercession of Governor Garcia, CNU president Dr. Ester Velasquez endorsed the request of Fernandez to forego the entrance examinations to the university’s board of regents. The request was approved.

Fernandez didn’t hide his background from his teachers and classmates.

On the first day of his visual arts class, the teacher asked him why he stopped schooling. He readily admitted that he had been jailed and recounted his experiences.

“I could feel that they pitied me. There were even some who felt like crying because despite what happened to me, they saw my determination,” Fernandez said. “My motivation to study hard is my poverty, what happened to my life.”

After graduation, Fernandez plans to pursue a teaching profession.

He explains that he agreed to be interviewed to help erase the stigma attached to detainees. It is only in the movies where inmates are unruly, he says.


http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20110506-335039/Prison-wont-hold-back-Cebuano-students-dream

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islander

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Re: Prison won’t hold back Cebuano student’s dream
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2011, 08:17:23 AM »

an inspiring story.  ma-misty-eyed man sad ta ani.  i can't help but think that it's so christian to believe that every person is redeemable.

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Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

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chicogon

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Re: Prison won’t hold back Cebuano student’s dream
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2011, 09:08:26 AM »
an inspiring story.  ma-misty-eyed man sad ta ani.  i can't help but think that it's so christian to believe that every person is redeemable.

Very inspiring and misty-fying (aw)... as helpless as a kitten up a tree. Tua nakakanta na nuon ko sa ka inspiring...  ;)
 

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Re: Prison won’t hold back Cebuano student’s dream
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2011, 09:09:25 AM »
Mao ni mga klase sa tawo angay gam-ag sine  :)


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chicogon

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Re: Prison won’t hold back Cebuano student’s dream
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2011, 09:11:47 AM »
Kung mao ning kalakia, apil sad siguro ni siya sa "dancing inmates" sa CPDRC nga sikat kaayo sa YouTube   :D


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chicogon

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hubag bohol

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Re: Prison won’t hold back Cebuano student’s dream
« Reply #7 on: May 09, 2011, 10:30:26 AM »

Mao ni mga klase sa tawo angay gam-ag sine  :)

Hmm, aron malikayan ang di mao nga inspiration, di lang tingali iapil ang alleged rape scene... ;D

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