By: Cedrix Perez
A cry for help. A nationwide clamor for injustice. That is how the Filipino people reacted when the bomb was dropped in lowering the age of liability for children. From 15 years old, the bar was lowered to nine years of age, the move that sparked outcries.
People were quick to form a wall to prevent that from happening. Some were relieved, some were straight up furious but you see, underneath all of these things, are little sparks of joy, little stories of successes, and we begin with the story of this rehabilitated little girl.
How it was started
To repress the feeling of agitation and pain, people tend to do something beyond the capacity of their control—to do things they could never imagine. Some choose the easy way out, and some fall for the deepest traps of desiring to escaping reality.
We’ve known some people who chose the latter choice of escaping reality. Nicole Tiburcio, a second year student of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in Polytechnic University of the Philippines, bravely discussed the desperation she felt when she badly wants to break out from the pain this world has given her.
In the urban of Sta. Mesa, Manila City, Nicole lives with her family for almost 24 years now. She had met a lot of problems and did a lot of olutions she thought could help her through her difficulties. On her late childhood, she was influenced to join gangs—groups that participates in riot and clan battles. It was a perfect way to vent out the desperation she tried to conceal, she believed. As she was shaped by the friends she had, she started to be fascinated by body piercing, and through that way she gained a lot of confidence and drive to see the world in a better perspective.
She struggled, and encountered bigger problems. Since the groups she was in participated in gang riots, she was invited to do so too. Gang riots fulfill that confidence in her, feeding up the desperation and the feeling of false freedom she badly wants to embrace. But at the age of 16, she was detained in Boys/Girls Town Complex in Marikina City after getting caught by the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) in a gang war. Seeing the place she thought she could never see eye to eye with, she realized that she did wrong things and built a wrong outlook on the world she wants to be in. It was then that she decided to choose change and be freed for real.
Life inside the town complex
“In fact, my stay in the rack was fine. If there’s any challenge I encountered inside the center is that I missed my family so bad because they cannot visit me there without difficulty. [Kung tutuusin, maayos yung naging stay ko sa rack. Kung meron man (akong na-encounter na problema) siguro ‘yung sobra kong na-miss ‘yung family ko],” Nicole said.
It was life changing for Nicole to live temporarily in the rehabilitation center. She thought that being in a group could vamp those insecurities inside her, but no, she realized that there’s more to live than staying in the shadows of her desperation. Problem arises inside the center, most especially on the process of how she coped up with her new environment. As soon as she finally understood the importance of family, and the repentance of doing things that lead her into her downfall, she had learned to adjust with the people on her surroundings. It was hard at first, but for Nicole, though she faced a lot of uprisings inside the town complex because of her personality difference to others, she believed that it is one-step progress towards her freedom.
“Another one is how you treat others. We differ from our past, and how it changed our perspective, so sometimes it caused isturbance inside the center. It was inevitable. [Isa pa ‘yung pakikisama sa ibang mga detainees doon (inside the complex), syempre hindi kami pare-pareho ng ugali at pinagdaanan kaya minsan nagiging sanhi na rin ng away sa loob],” she added.
Changing Perspective
Fearless. That’s how she described herself before she was put in the rehabilitation center. Nicole joined gang wars because she knows she will not be jailed, hence she continued to participate in a lot more wars in different barangays in San Juan City. Sometimes, she’s going home with bruises and cuts, worst she’s in extreme physical pain with blood on her shirts and fists.
She was young and she cannot tame the ildness in her. Her idea of freedom is shallow and not as mature as she was in the town complex. She remembers how desperate she was to escape the emotional pain she suffered; the real cause why she joined in gangs and be in multiple fights.
“Young, wild, and free? Fearless? When you’re not of the legal age, they cannot put you in jail, that’s why I have no fear to join in fights. Sometimes, I go home with bruises, or sometimes, bleeding. [Young, wild, and free? Fearless? Kasi ‘di ba noong mga panahon na ’yon ‘di pa pwedeng makulong ang menor-de-edad kaya malakas ‘yong loob kong makipagbanatan. Kahit minsan uuwin akong (ka) nang maraming galos o minsan duguan],” she stressed.
It was hard for her at first to change. It’s like she’s in the withdrawal stage, she’s so used doing those things that she really find it hard to get back in the right track. But she came to the point where she asked herself if she will be staying like that—a mere creature of trash whose future is nowhere to be seen. So little by little, she diverted her attention from doing the same thing—she avoided people with bad influences. She was not religious before but she once believed in God, and asked Him for another chance to fix her mistakes.
When she was out of the rehabilitation center, her family supported her initiative to be a better person. They never failed to give her pieces of advice, and even concerns regarding the emotional difficulties she suffered before and even inside the complex. She never thought her family could be there for her, and be the real ones to carry her curves to straight faith.
“They always advise me to change, that I should fix my life because I’m not getting any younger. That’s why they were so overwhelmed when they found out that I graduated from ALS (Alternative Learning System) and even continue college in PUP. They were so happy especially my grandfather and grandmother. [Lagi nila akong pinapayuhan na magbago na raw ako, na ayusin ko na raw buhay ko kasi ‘di na nga raw ako bumabata. Kaya laking gulat din nila nung nag-aral ulit ako at nakatapos ng ALS. Tapos anun din nung nalaman nila na sa PUP na ako mag-aaral. Natuwa naman sila , lalo na ‘yung lolo’t lola ko],” she said.
She realized what freedom she was seeking for. As part of the Iskolar ng Bayan, she finally found her ways to be a better person, to see the world in the right perspective.
Words of Hope
“While it is early, stop doing what is wrong. They should know if what they’re doing is beneficial to them. They should not let their peers dictate their actions because in the end, it is only you and your family that will help and care for you when the worst happens. [Siguro, habang maaga pa, ihinto na nila yung mga ginagawa nilang masama. Mag-isip silang mabuti kung ikabubuti ba talaga nila ‘yan. ‘Wag nilang isipin yung sasabihin ng barkada kasi sa huli, sarili at pamilya mo lang din ang dadamay at tutulong sa’yo],” Nicole stressed for the people who suffer what she experienced before.
There are two kinds of escape: the easy way out, or the never ending holes of desire of doing what you think is best for you. Many choose the latter like Nicole because the easy way out is not a choice. It always takes a lot of courage to escape and be on the right escape route. And Nicole was one of the lucky persons who have come back into their own right track. Desperation makes a person to see false freedom, but hope makes everyone to see for the goodness and continue for living.
“But one thing that really crossed my mind is, no matter how many times you fall and lost on your way, it will never be late to change. [Pero ‘yung isa sa mga pinakatumatak sa akin ay yung kahit na ilang beses kang nadapa at maligaw ng landas, hindi pa rin huli ang lahat para magbago],” she said.
Contributors: John Archie Balmes & Angelica Carrido
Young ECHO 
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