CHRISTMAS spirit filled the Iloilo District Jail (IDJ) in Barangay Nanga, Pototan, Iloilo on Sunday, December 18, as the province’s governor held his traditional gift-giving to the prisoners.
Around 1,800 inmates of the IDJ, now under the management and supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), received gift packs from Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. as his way of celebrating his birthday this coming December 25, Christmas day.
Defensor, who will turn 75, traditionally holds a gift-giving activity to the prisoners as his way of celebrating his birthday since he started as governor of the province in 1992.
The activity started with a holy mass celebrated by Monsignor Meliton Oso and attended by the prisoners and guests from the Provincial Government.
Jail warden Senior Inspector Abner Zamora said the governor’s gift-giving every December is one of the events that the prisoners look forward to every year.
In his message to the prisoners, Defensor reminded them not to lose hope as there is still life outside the provincial jail, adding the prisoners should go back to God and always seek his guidance.
“Believe me, with God your life will be much easier,” the governor said.
All the inmates received a gift pack containing face towel, batch soap, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrush and detergent bar.
The inmates, in turn, gave to the governor a specially designed lamp shade made of ice cream stick which the prisoners themselves made.
Also present were the governor’s wife Cosette, Pototan Mayor Tomas Peñaflorida, Third District Board Member Lorenz Defensor, and some officials of Barangay Nanga.
The IDJ, previously called Iloilo Rehabilitation Center, was formerly under the supervision and management of the Iloilo Provincial Government until its transfer to the BJMP in 2013. (PR)