THOUSANDS of jail inmates were among those who paid their last respects to Irene Sagrado Tabada before she was laid to rest last Monday.
As head of the Archdiocesan Commission for Prison Welfare (ACPW), her evenings and weekends were spent ministering to inmates in the Davao City Jail even while working full-time for the Department of Budget and Management.
Three days before Christmas, Irene died suddenly at the age of 55.
She had been especially busy with the ACPW programs “Panaygon sa Preso” and “Wish Ko Lang,” where community groups visited the jail to share carols and gifts to help the inmates celebrate Christmas apart from their families.
For the last 13 years of her life, Irene had been volunteering in the prison ministry to assist the inmates in their spiritual formation and help them with basic needs, and to reduce the stigma against jail inmates so that they could live normal and productive lives upon release.
For the first time in the history of the Davao City Jail, a casket was brought inside the facility so the almost 4,000 inmates could pay their respects to someone that many considered as a mother, a sister, and a friend.
Randy, the coordinator of the Catholic Community in the jail, said Irene didn't just care about their spiritual needs, but their basic physical and health necessities.
She arranged for rubber mats for the inmates to sleep on rather than newspapers and improved ventilation in the hot and overcrowded cells.
Dennis, president of the inmates’ association, recounted that when inmates were released, she would give them her cell number and office address.
Female inmates remembered how she would listen to their problems and comfort them during trials and heartbreaks like learning of the death of a child.
A Muslim inmate emotionally shared how Irene cared for her even though they were of different religions.
Jail Superintendent Grace Taculin recalled working with Irene for over a decade in the jail and called her "God’s gift to us."
Irene’s elder son, Kiboy, said the family would ask her why she spent so much of her time in jail. With a smile she would say, “because in, jail I find Jesus.”
The funeral mass was held at the San Pablo Church where Irene attended the noon masses and served as a lector. There were over 400 in attendance and 17 priests including three bishops. Archbishop Romulo Valles said Irene had become like Christ through serving those in prison.
Irene is survived by her husband Nestor, her sons Kiboy and Kitoy, hear parents Liling and Pete Sagrada, and her siblings Ethel, Alice, Ulric, Owen, and their families.