Liwanag at Anino

October 19, 2026 | First Day of Prison Awareness Week

A new beginning is not always welcomed with certainty. Sometimes, it begins with fear, loneliness, and questions that seem to have no answers.

For our brothers and sisters newly admitted to the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) and the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW), this is often the reality they face. Transferred from city jails to the Reception and Diagnostic Center (RDC), they enter an unfamiliar environment where routines change, relationships are disrupted, and the weight of uncertainty can feel overwhelming.

What lies ahead? How will they adjust? How can they make sense of their circumstances and find a way forward?

As we celebrate the first day of Prison Awareness Week, the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service Foundation, Inc. (PJPS) invites everyone to pause and remember these newly admitted persons deprived of liberty (PDLs). Beyond their circumstances, they are people carrying stories of the past, questions about the present, and hopes that may still be difficult to express.

Their transition reminds us that the experience of incarceration is not limited to physical confinement. It also involves an emotional and spiritual journey that calls for patience, understanding, and compassionate accompaniment.

A Space to Begin Again

Recognizing the challenges of adjusting to life inside prison, PJPS developed the Bagito Program, a psychospiritual formation designed to accompany newly admitted PDLs as they begin navigating this unfamiliar chapter of their lives.

The word bagito refers to someone new to an experience or environment. For these individuals, entering prison marks a significant transition. They must learn to live within new boundaries while facing the emotions, memories, and questions that come with their circumstances.

The Bagito Program seeks to become a stepping stone toward reformation and hope. Rather than defining participants by their mistakes or judging them solely by their past, the program creates opportunities for reflection, acceptance, spiritual growth, and the discovery of possibilities for change.

It begins with an important invitation: to look back, not to remain trapped in the past, but to understand it.

Through guided reflection, participants are encouraged to revisit their life experiences and process the circumstances that led to their incarceration. This is not an exercise in condemnation. Instead, it is an opportunity to acknowledge what has happened, recognize personal struggles and decisions, and begin accepting the reality of their present situation.

Meaningful change can begin when a person is given the space to face the truth with honesty and the assurance that their dignity remains intact.

Recognizing the Light Amid the Shadows

The journey of reflection continues through the theme Liwanag at Anino, or light and shadow.

Life inside prison can bring moments of discouragement, regret, and uncertainty. Yet even in difficult circumstances, there can be opportunities to discover strength, nurture relationships, deepen faith, and recognize the presence of God.

Through the Bagito Program, participants are invited to recognize both the shadows they carry and the light that continues to shine within and around them.

This does not mean ignoring the pain of the past or pretending that the challenges of incarceration do not exist. Rather, it means acknowledging difficulties while remaining open to the possibility of healing and transformation.

In the Ignatian spirit of finding God in all things, even experiences marked by brokenness can become opportunities for deeper self-awareness, renewed faith, and a more hopeful way of living.

Sometimes, hope begins quietly. It may emerge through a moment of honest reflection, a prayer offered in silence, a conversation that brings comfort, or the realization that one's life still holds possibilities.

These moments may seem small, but they can become meaningful steps toward change.

Discovering Opportunities Within Prison

The Bagito Program also helps participants recognize opportunities available within the prison environment that can support their personal, spiritual, and psychosocial development.

Although incarceration places significant limitations on freedom, it does not have to mean the end of learning, growth, or meaningful participation in life.

By becoming aware of available programs and opportunities, newly admitted PDLs can begin to see that there are constructive ways to use their time, develop their abilities, strengthen their faith, and prepare for the responsibilities that may lie ahead.

The goal is not simply to help them adjust to prison life. It is also to encourage them to live with greater awareness, responsibility, and purpose, even while confined.

Reformation is a journey that requires time, commitment, and support. It cannot be accomplished through a single conversation or activity. It grows through opportunities to reflect, make meaningful choices, learn from experience, and take gradual steps toward a better life.

For this reason, compassionate accompaniment matters. When people are given opportunities to grow and are treated with dignity, they are better supported in recognizing their capacity for change.

Seeing the Person Beyond the Prison Walls

Prison Awareness Week calls us to look beyond the physical walls of correctional facilities and the labels society often places on persons deprived of liberty.

It asks us to remember that every person has a story, that every individual deserves to be treated with dignity, and that the possibility of transformation should never be dismissed.

For those newly admitted to NBP and CIW, the first days inside prison may be filled with uncertainty. Yet their circumstances need not be the only story told about them. With appropriate guidance, opportunities for growth, and compassionate support, a difficult transition can also become the beginning of a deeper journey toward self-understanding and renewal.

Through the Bagito Program, PJPS continues its mission of accompanying our brothers and sisters behind bars, helping them confront their past without losing sight of the hope that remains possible in the present.

As we begin Prison Awareness Week, may we learn to look with greater compassion, listen without rushing to judgment, and recognize the humanity of those whose lives have brought them behind prison walls.

May we remember that hope can take root even in places where it seems hardest to find, and that a new beginning does not require a perfect past. It begins with the courage to take the next step.

This Prison Awareness Week, let us choose to see beyond incarceration and stand for dignity, healing, and transformation.

Together, let us continue creating spaces where our brothers and sisters deprived of liberty can rediscover hope and find opportunities to begin again.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. For the Greater Glory of God.