kababaihan-at-kapayapaan-issue-3

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Sr. Insp. Michelle Ng-BontoThe warden is a teacherA jail warden pays it forward by providing an opportunity for her ASG, JI, RSM and NPAwards to get a high school diploma.By MICHELLE ANN RAMIREZWHEN FACED WITH A DIFFICULTSITUATION, giving up becomes anenticingly easy choice. Walking hastilyout of a tough situation could offer thebest option, especially when going theextra mile is too painful to consider.But for the warden of the Bureau of JailManagement and Penology’s SpecialCare Area (SICA)-1 Facility at CampBagong Diwa in Taguig City, there’sno mountain too high to conquer.Difficult though a situation may be,there are ways to get around it.Jail Senior Inspector Michelle Ng-Bonto has 362 high-risk detaineesunder her care. An educator at heart,she is working to give the inmates an“alternative future” by offering theAlternative Learning System (ALS)literacy program at the detentioncenter. A literacy mapping of herwards showed that out of 306 whoresponded to her survey, 160 areprospective ALS students. Nineteen ofthem have had no formal education.Teaching here is not easy toundertake. The SICA-1 facilityhouses inmates who are chargedwith terrorism-related cases suchas bombings. The majority of itsresidents are suspected members ofthe Abu Sayyaf Group, while some arealleged members of the New People’sArmy (NPA), Jemaiah Islamiah, andRajah Solaiman Movement, amongothers. At least 219 of the inmates areMuslims.Winning the hearts and minds of herwards is difficult, but the 39-year oldMichelle is undaunted. “If you get totalk to them, they’ll say that they havetheir reasons. Maybe, at that time,in their frame of mind, that was theonly thing they could do. But it got methinking – maybe, if they’re given aneducation, they will start to considerother alternatives in their decisionmaking.”Overcoming hurdlesHer journey with SICA-1 inmatesbegan when she was still a legislativeliaison officer of the BJMP. Aftersecuring the necessary permissionfrom National Headquarters, Sr. Insp.Bonto began spending weekends, hersupposed time for her family, at SICA-1. “I come here once or twice a month,and sit with the leaders, just talking,28 KABABAIHANatKAPAYAPAAN March 2015
asking them how they are. I bringfood, if I can. I’m locked up with themin the hallway for three to four hoursbecause the guard cannot leave thedoor open just for me to be safe.”It was difficult making the inmatescomfortable with her presence. “It hasalways been challenging to deal withhigh-risk inmates. These are inmateswho, in one way or another, haveexperienced oppression in varyingforms. They distanced themselvesfrom persons in uniform because oftheir experience with oppression.Their encounters with prejudiceare intertwined with their religionand culture and the level of distrust[towards me was] high. It took morethan a year before they opened up.”The hesitation of the inmates wasanother roadblock. “They couldn’tbelieve that an educational programwould be run in this facility. Itwas hard for them to believe thatsomebody would care, especially anon-Muslim like me.”Eventually, the leaders of the inmateswere able to see Michelle’s sincerity.For the chairperson of the Muslimblock of SICA-1 (who refuses to benamed for security reasons), Sr.Insp. Bonto is “different from all theresearchers” they’ve met. “Regulariyong pagdalaw niya, bihira iyong ganoon.Napakalaking sakripisyo na pumupuntasiya dito. Nakita namin iyong dedikasyonniya. Gusto niyang tumulong, pero hindisiya nagte-take advantage.” (She wouldvisit us regularly, which is rare. It wassuch a big sacrifice for her to comehere. We saw her dedication. Shereally wants to help, but she nevertakes advantage.)Making the inmates open up to theprogram is just one step. Encouragingthem to believe in her as a teacheris another hurdle. “The challenge asan educator in sharing knowledgeto the high-risk inmates is for themto see that people do really care fortheir welfare. Another factor that Ifind challenging is that the inmatesnaturally look for a mentor or leaderstronger than they are. They prefer tolearn from someone who knows, thanfrom someone on a par with them.So, I make sure I’m prepared with mylessons.”Walking the talkSr. Insp. Bonto’s regard for theimportance of education is deeplyrooted in her experience as a workingstudent and being a recipient ofvarious scholarship grants.“I came from humble beginnings.I used to sell biko, palitaw, kutsinta,sapin-sapin in the streets of Panghulo,Obando, Bulacan, from grade 4 to firstyear college. My mom did the cooking.Instead of buying me new skirts, mymother dyed my old skirts to makethem look new.. I couldn’t afford tohave a Tetoron blouse so I wore acomplimentary shirt with a pig logothat my aunt used as a giveaway to herpalengke suki (regular customers),” sherecalls.The difficulty did not stop Bonto fromhaving a stellar academic career. Asidefrom graduating class valedictorianin elementary school, Bonto wasaccelerated from third year highschool to first year college. She tookup bachelor of arts major in politicalscience at the Philippine ChristianUniversity in Manila.In 1996, she entered governmentservice as a clerk/stenographer ofthe Legal Service Unit of BJMP-NCR.“I was looking for a job that wouldallow me to have full-time work withan opportunity to study at night. I gotinto BJMP after undergoing the PublicSafety Basic Recruit Course.”It was while working at the BJMPthat she became a recipient of theCivil Service Commission LocalScholarship Program-Bachelor’sDegree Completion (LSP-BDC). Thescholarship grant allowed the studentto go on a one-year paid studyClassroom behind bars.March 2015KABABAIHANatKAPAYAPAAN29
Page 1: Issue No. 3March 2015
Page 4: In pursuit of peace,truth and justi
Page 7 and 8: popular, or sexy, to speak up at th
Page 9 and 10: Deles, Ferrer, Sema and Hataman: St
Page 11 and 12: Gender in the Peace ProcessBy SOCOR
Page 13 and 14: March 2015KABABAIHANatKAPAYAPAAN11
Page 15 and 16: Women forge on, echoing the calls f
Page 17 and 18: your job, will the left recruit you
Page 19 and 20: whether female genital mutilation(F
Page 21 and 22: [The BBL] is not a cure-all to all
Page 23 and 24: at least 5% of their budgets for ge
Page 25 and 26: Genuine birth certificates are asaf
Page 27 and 28: assumed primary responsibility forc
Page 29: REFLECTIONThe bigotry of powerBy JE
Page 33 and 34: Reaping the rewardsBonto sees to it
Page 35: As part of the fulfillment of the p
Page 38 and 39: UPDATESFrom the Peace TablesThe Off
Page 40 and 41: The GPH however, continues to reite
Page 42 and 43: OPAPP, PCW to mainstream women in p

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