BM Boniel brings faith behind bars

Every inmate at the Talibon District Jail (TDJ) discovers faith in prison.

It began with simple Bible sharing initiated by detained Provincial Board Member Nino Rey
Boniel. From a small group that started with five to seven inmates who gathered at the TDJ
chapel, the prison ministry has grown to include all 230 inmates of the detention facility.

While most prisoners have little education and even less religious awareness, this did not deter
Boniel to organize a Bible study group as he saw the need to introduce a more consistent
spiritual and values formation to shape his fellow inmates’ understanding of the Catholic faith.

This inspired Boniel to establish LIGHT Ministry, which stands for Life Inspired and Guided by
the Holy Spirit and Transformed Ministry.

Boniel, who is facing trial for charges of parricide and kidnapping, was recently transferred to
the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), but the LIGHT Ministry which
he established at the TDJ has become a model for other detention facilities to emulate.

Interviewed by the Chronicle yesterday, Boniel bared that life in prison brought him closer to
God. At the time he entered TDJ, there was no regular schedule for the prisoners to hear mass,
which was held once a month.

“I saw the need to provide inmates with spiritual direction and moral upliftment,” Boniel said.

This led Boniel to organize a Bible study group which gathers every 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
At that time, the challenge was to keep those who attended the first sessions to keep on joining
the daily Bible study, which eventually developed to include additional activities, like sharing of
their life experiences and their families and loved ones.

In just a few months, from its inception in July 2017, the ministry flourished as jail guards were
also encouraged to participate. In time, every inmate have become involved and would even
look forward to the daily gathering.

Everyone who took part in the daily activities of the ministry felt that their spiritual needs are
satisfied.

Instead of just one holy mass in a month, TDJ inmates and jail guards now hold a liturgical
celebration every Sunday which is followed by a holy mass which was initially officiated by a lay
minister from the Diocese of Talibon since the detention facility had no permanent designated
chaplain to hold a regular mass schedule.
According to Boniel, the change and transformation of every inmate, even those who are
considered “tough and dangerous” inmates would now take the initiative to pick Bible verses to
be read during their daily sharing sessions.

“The daily Bible study and sharing gradually ingrained into the hearts and souls of the inmates,
and with it comes the realization that each one of them are still part of society,” Boniel said.

Boniel revealed that even the brutal ritual where tough and senior inmates inflict physical
punishments on new or erring inmates, known as “takal”, have been stopped due to the
ministry. The ruthless “takal” system have been practiced for a very long time in all detention
facilities in the country, was abolished.

Recently, however, when a Cebu Regional Trial Court judge ordered for the transfer of Boniel to
the CPDRC, the provincial board member was initially disheartened in leaving his fellow TDJ
inmates and jail guards whom he treated as his family.

“We treat each other like we were members of a big family which made it hard to leave the
TDJ,” he said.

But in just three weeks at the CPDRC since his transfer last January 11, Boniel replicated what
he did at the TDJ and has now encouraged some 500 inmates to participate the daily ministry.

REHABILITATION AND RENEWAL

Bishop Patrick Daniel Parcon of the Diocese of Talibon attributes the success of LIGHT Ministry
as the inmates themselves were inspired by the experience of transformation in their own lives
even despite facing the reality of years in prison.

“They found new meaning, a new life unfolding, and in spite of their circumstances, they begin
to see the Lord is with them and guiding them. This is a spiritual moment for them,” Bishop
Parcon told the Chronicle.

The prelate said that the jail management sees the transformation of the jail from being a
correctional facility to that of a true rehabilitation and renewal center.

“Many of these inmates have no awareness of God before, but now they are beginning to
understand a deeper meaning of their situation and that there is a reason why they are in jail,”
the bishop concluded.