Detainee Weekday Routine

A normal day inside PDEA would start at about seven am. I’d wake up at this time and have a few precious minutes of silence for myself. This is when I like to read the daily entry from ‘Our Daily Bread’. After contemplating on the biblical verses I read I would then begin reading one of my other novels. Anytime between seven thirty to eight thirty the guard on duty comes in to execute a head count. All of the detainees are asked to come out and form five lines and they begin to count off. After the head count all the fluorescent lamps are switched on. The detainees who sleep in the outer room are asked to pack away their mats or in most cases cardboards. Anyone who wants to sleep some more have to move inside. The people who remain outside if their lucky are given 15 minutes to step outside and see the sun. Sometimes when the guard on duty is nice we are allowed to go out with out handcuffs. This is what they call ‘pa- araw’. When we return from pa-araw it’s time for breakfast. Breakfast is usually slice bread with ‘cheez-wiz’ or peanut butter. The detainees usually lounge around and make ‘kwentuhan’ (chat) for several hours. This is also when we line-up for our turn for our morning showers. If you’re a VIP someone else line’s up for you. If your somewhere at the bottom of the food-chain you shower after everyone else and after several chores.

The first real meal of the day for the alabang boys is when Myra’s ‘karindirya’ (canteen) comes rolling in at around one pm. One pm is the earliest time that visitors are permitted to enter on weekdays. After eating a full meal we are then treated to merienda from the Tecson ‘restaurant’ which is more like second lunch. It has become a habit for us boys to pray the chaplet of Divine Mercy at three everyday. Just before five pm ‘Sammy’ arrives with dinner from ‘Joseph’s kitchen’. At five pm we say goodbye to our guests. After which we sweep, mop and take the trash out for a brief glimpse at sunset. After all the cleaning the second head count commences.

Evenings at PDEA are usually very noisy. People are clustered in small groups chatting amongst themselves. Although they are next to each other they like to scream at who their talking to as if they were far apart. This is especially true for the people from Pampanga. Everyone lines up for their evening showers. Some watch TV mainly news and tele-seryes. Others are glued to their personal DVD players which is the most desirable gadget inside the detention facility. If there’s someone to put a DVD player to the test leave it to a detainee. He’ll have that thing headed back for repairs before the warranty expires. At about eight in the evening we set the table for ‘family dinner’. Inside PDEA the detainees have dinner with their ‘families’ meaning their respective groups. This for some reason is strictly followed as if it was some sort of law with exceptions for birthdays and despedidas which brings all families together. After dinner it’s time to do the dishes, this is when the alabang boys keep close watch over their Tupperware and utensils which have a tendency to vanish. At exactly nine pm the final head count is administered signifying the shut down of the main lights. This is when the cozy night lights come on and books from the mini library (a plastic box) are brought out. For those who have eaten their full but are still hungry, a midnight snack is cooked up at around two am. This however is a full meal with rice and ulam served with juice which has to have ice. All of the alabang boys are asleep by three am, there are some however who sleep close to sunrise and even more suspicious those who don’t seem to need sleep.