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This Milestone is enormous, and we know it has been long- awaited. Despite a global pandemic, uncertainty in the job market, and the transition to a virtual reality, despite the shifts in your academic and personal lives, you have made it. you completed school during a global pandemic. I know your life was disrupted. I know there was added stress. I know, it was hard for you to get access to internet or looking for computer to do your research. I know there was uncertainty. Despite these challenges, or more accurately because of them, you are stronger. You are a stronger student having tested yourself. you have overcome the unexpected and persevered. You are a stronger person finding the ingenuity and resolution you did not know you had it before . Honoring your future, self, and those who have always believed in you, you stayed the course and crossed the finish line on your own feet. Having gotten to know you over the  years has enriched my life. It has been an honor to see you grow personally and professionally while being MCI scholar. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be a part of your journey

There is no resource more powerful than an education, where people can gain new skills and learn new perspectives,” one Bureau of Corrections – BuCor official said. A group of incarcerated students at the DAPECOL began a new chapter of their lives   on July15th 2022 after graduation with their Senior High Diploma. “ Today, an education to me, means freedom, forgiveness, accountability, , and opportunity.” One of the graduates, said during the ceremony.  The opportunity to show that we are not our worst decisions,” one of the student added.Obtaining diploma in a prison setting through a partner like College Education Behind Bars , Thompsons Christian School, SETBI is an opportunity for incarcerated people to have a true second chance. Their accomplishment has a positive effect on the other People of Deprived Liberty ( PDLS ), their friends, families, and communities. An because of this, we strongly believe that a college education behind bars is about breaking the cycle of incarceration and reduce the recidivism rate , and decongesting Prison population. While some argue incarcerated people do not deserve a second chance because of the crimes they committed but we believe education is the key to create a healing environment both inside and outside prison walls. The public should know that education behind bars isn’t a free pass to wipe their slates clean. It is an acknowledgement that they have to change their lives to be accountable , and education is that allows them to do that. Big  Congratulation to PDLS, Davao Prison Penal Farm superintendent, education department officers, Thompson Christian School teachers, President of SETBI Dr. Aland Mizell, Vice President Attorney Susan Cariaga .

This week Reny Ornado Aguilar earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Technology at the University of Southeastern Philippines and is currently working at the Cariaga Law Office. Because Reny’s parents separated when he was a child, he never saw his father. From the time of that separation everything became completely unsettled and dysfunctional for him. The only reactions he could muster were confusion, anger and fear, so he took those emotions and tried to use them as a form of power, resulting in the perfect formula for getting in trouble, going down the wrong path, and landing him in the Davao City Jail where he was sentenced for and to misspending his time and squandering his life. It did not take much time in jail for Reny to realize that his actions were hurting not only himself, but also other people he loved the most, his children. He also realized that he needed to radically change his life if he wanted to be a proud father again.When outside, Reny lacked access to acceptable education, but inside he enrolled in College Education Behind Bars in Davao City that gave him a chance to obtain a quality education. When Reny graduated from college at age forty-two, he proved once again that education cannot be limited by age. He also discredited skeptics who hold that individuals areconfined by their past. If given the right chance, Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) can reform and become productive members of society, a transformation that seems impossible until it is done. For Reny his failure was not fatal, nor was his success final; but his courage to continue counted then and now. This undergraduate degree was his first major academic achievement. In tandem with College Education Behind Bars (CEBB), the program offered Celebrate Recovery. While incarcerated at the Davao City Jail, Reny took rehabilitation classes, and through these classes he realized that he is bigger than his problems and that he could understand and overcome his habits and hang-ups. Continue reading →