Mga Bilanggo ng Lipunan

Abstract

Prisons are for those who have been charged for crimes committed against persons and the greater majority. Characterized by walls, bars and routines, they are structured to reform those who are considered society's offenders.
This paper shows the contrast and similarities of women inmates and the author, a woman-outsider, who shared a common space and time at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong in March 2012. Through a simple seminar on entrepreneurship given to those who were about to be sent home, the author learned the irony of her understanding of what a prison is and who prisoners are. This narrative presents her observations of the facility, how she saw the inmates and how her interaction with them made her reflect on her own imprisonment. It explores the shared feelings and concerns of women who have been identified as criminals and who face fears of being forgiven, accepted and reintegrated into the outside world. It almost asks if women inmates are in a better position as they have formed a sisterhood in recognition of their faults than those living outside who face daily challenges on their own wearing their scarlet letters. These reflections present hard realities about society's righteousness and how, with human eyes, people are marked and put behind invisible bars.