His second chance

Many times he would find himself looking out the window, staring at the vast mountain range while tears were falling from his eyes.

For a while since he was isolated with fellow children in conflict with the law in a facility located in Barangay Kalunasan this city, Edwin Custodio almost lost hope that there was still a future for him.

But the people who stood beside him all the way, those who gave him their trust are the ones he is deeply indebted to for the joyful life he has now with his wife and four-month-old baby.

Custodio, now 23 years old, has become the chief cook of the Operation Second Chance Center, from being a lost teenage soul some six years ago.

His ordeal

Custodio was brought at the Operation Second Chance Center, a Cebu City Jail dormitory for minors, located some two kilometers from the city proper, at the age of 16.

His ignorance and helplessness as a teen sent him there.

He said he was used as a scapegoat for a crime he never thought, even once, of committing.

Custodio was accused for stealing P2.4 million worth of cash and other items from his employer in 2006.

He was working in a drug store as an errand and delivery boy. His employer brought him to Cebu City from Jimenez, Ozamiz, in Mindanao in 2004.

His employer’s son terminated him and sent him back to Mindanao two days before the burglary.

“Pag-August 23, 2006 gilungkab ang ilang balay pero pag-August 22, naa nako sa Jimenez ato. Nadunggan nako na nalungkaban sila pero wala ko magdahom na ako ilang pasanginlan,” Custodio said.

He was surprised when his employer called him and asked him to come back to Cebu City to help in the investigation. Without a second thought he came back to Cebu on August 26, 2006.

“Ingon siya naa daw pangutana ang mga pulis nako. Pag-abot nako sa pier, ang akong amo pa’y nisugat nako. Nidiretso mi sa Campo (Camp Sotero Cabahug or Cebu City Police Office),” he recalled.

He was held at the CCPO detention cell for 24 hours before the police released him.

During the investigation, he lived at the CCPO barracks where the police made him a ‘striker’ or an errand boy.

After four months, the court issued a warrant for his arrest.

He was brought to the Operation Second Chance Center in November 22, 2006.

“Wala man lang ko gisugtan na magdala og sanina, social worker na lang ang nibalik didto. Ang unang semana nako diri, paet gyud kaayo,” he said.

“Kanang maghinuktok ka, magtan-aw ka sa gawas na puro bukid ra imong makit-an, mingawon ka sa imong pamilya, makahilak gyud ka oy,” he said.

His case took almost three years before the court dismissed it for lack of evidence.

“Ila gyud kong gipugos na mutug-an, pero dili man gyud ko kay wala ko’y sala,” Custodio said.

He recalled the excruciating ordeal from the series of torture sessions by the police to force him to confess the crime.

In 2009, the judge granted him a Release on Recognizance (ROR). An ROR allowed his release without a bail.

By the time though, he was already working as a kitchen staff at the OSC.

OSC Warden Senior Inspector Merlina Metante gave him the job.

Metante also stood as his custodian for the ROR.

His second chance

Gradually over the two years and 10 months of stay at the OSC, Custodio has learned to accept his fate.

He said he never tried to escape that even when he was hospitalized, which could have given him an opportunity to escape, Custodio did not do so.

He said the house parents and the social workers treated him well. He did not also have to spend much time with other children because he was always at the kitchen for his part-time job.

He learned cooking from one of the house parents at the OSC.

When he was released, he requested to stay and work as a cook.

There are small part-time jobs available inside the facility for children where they are provided with allowance.

Social Worker May Amor Cañete said these jobs are available to those who have shown improvement in their behavior.

After his release, Custodio worked in the kitchen to buy a motorcycle, his first investment.

He sidelines as a motorcycle-for-hire in Kalunasan. His allowance as a chief cook is P4,000 a month. The warden pays their salaries from her own pocket.

Not only was Custodio able to get a job at the OSC. It was also here he met the woman who would be his wife.

His wife, who worked as a helper, was also accused of stealing from her employer. Custodio pursued her after her release last year.

Their friendship started inside the OSC where they communicated with each other from afar using fingerspelling.

Now, Custodio enjoys an intact family with his wife and their four-month-old daughter.

He said he wants her daughter to pursue the dream that her mother was not able to pursue —to become a teacher. It is, however, not too late for his wife to go to college. Custodio said if given the opportunity, he will send his wife to college to become a teacher.

Behind these youth offenders

Cañete said that about 70 percent of the children held at the OSC came from broken families.

Custodio also came from a broken family. He said he never met his father. His mother had another family so he was left to the care of his grandparents.

Custodio said that had someone played the role of a father in his life, he would have been guided properly.

He regretted refusing to heed his mother’s advice to go to school. Custodio did not finish elementary and would have wanted to become a soldier.

Cañete said that children like Custodio who came from a broken family have the tendency to rebel.

“They have the tendency na ma-barkada or muhimo og butang ara mapansin sila. Kining mga bataa kulang gyud ni sila sa attention,” Cañete said.

The OSC is currently catering to 175 children in conflict with the law. Six are female while the rest are male.

Cañete said that 50 percent of these children are repeat offenders.

“Half gyud ani nila diri mga repeaters. Kay inig-gawas man gud nila, labi na wala’y family support, they tend to repeat the same offense,” she said.

But most of children who are visited by their parents at the facility do not come back.

“Lahi ra gyud kung naa sila’y madawat na emotional support sa ilang ginikanan,” she said.

The facility has 11 house parents and two social workers. The house parents counsel them while they are held at the facility. They teach the children core values like respect for the law and respect for others.

But Cañete clarified OSC is not a rehabilitation facility for CICLs because they focus on case management.

The OSC provides legal assistance to the children through the Public Attorney’s Office. Some institutions have also partnered with them to provide basic skills training to the children, spiritual guidance and other interventions.

The Don Bosco Technology Center College Department provides skills training to the children in furniture-making. The Department of Education is providing Alternative Learning System education.

Cañete said that the number of children they are catering to keeps on increasing.

“If naa’y ma-release usa, naa’y mupuli na duha. Almost everyday naa’y bag-ong ma-abot diri,” she said.

The Operation Second Chance Center for the Youth in Conflict with the Law

The OSC is a three-storey building occupying 5,504 square meters in Kalunasan. The OSC is run by the Bureau of Jail Management of Penology under Warden Merlina Metante. It has 17 BJMP personnel, 11 house parents and two social workers. —/BRP (FREEMAN)