Life Behind Bars Shape Up His Life

By: JO1 Edjeluck Delight B Moracilla

“A friend is someone who stands by you when you encounter difficult situations and is always
there for you”. Research shows that spending time with friends is one of the best ways to create
memorable experiences, but that’s exactly opposite way of what PDL Allan Seblos has experienced. In
his younger years, he used to spend most of his time with his friends instead of his family. At an early
age he was already influenced by his friends which led to his descent into cigarette, smoking and
alcoholism then the weeds. This did not stop there. It did not take long for him to drop out of school as
he was introduced to substance abused. Despite of their crippling poverty his brother tried his best to
support his education hoping one day he could finish his studies, land a decent job, and eventually help
his family. Unfortunately, time was savage, and his brother’s effort went down the drain when they
found out that he got his girlfriend pregnant during their college sophomore year.

At the age of 23, he decided to stop studying and got married. Thinking that having his own
family would shape him up and do better, things eventually had gotten worse. Their main source of
income was just simply selling snacks in the canteen of elementary school. Needless to say, this was not
nearly enough for their family basic needs, so he ended up selling illegal drugs surrounded with friends
who helped him get the job done. It was not very long he was captured and detained in Balamban
Municipal Jail for the crime of Violation of Sec 5 and 11, Art II of RA 9165. Only then all the things he had
done finally get through him, his friends abandoned him in the end. Through TCMP and other WD
activities he gradually and truly understand the importance of family, accepting his mistakes and the
price he has to pay for getting himself involved in illegal drugs.

After almost three years of doing his time, Seblos was finally released last October 22 2018. A lot
has changed after he went out of jail. Now he spends most of his time with his family and even started
to look for a job. This was pretty hard for him in the beginning the outside world was a culture shock.
Having a criminal record makes it difficult to get a stable job. Luckily he was hired at TSUNEISHI HEAVY
INDUSTRIES (CEBU) Inc. the “Shipbuilding Capital of the Philippines” as a Welder. Seblos has become a
loving husband, a great father and a good provider to his family. His experience has taught us that the
past does not define what we can become in the future. Life can go on for everyone. Even for those who
made the biggest mistakes. Seblos was very thankful for the chance and trust that was given to him.

“Patoo mo sa ginikanan ninyu, ug ayaw mog sulod sa illegal na butang labaw na sa druga dili
lalim kinabuhi sa prisohan gikan nako didto” he added.

“Changing Lives, Building A Safer Nation”

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“Changing Lives, Building A Safer Nation”