Buryong... salitang kulungan (a jail term). It means boredom, helplessness, powerlessness. When one says, "ako ay may tamang buryong," it means, "I am afflicted with extreme paranoia." It may be a result of an emotional breakdown, when a faithful wife or partner finally says, I can't fight for you anymore. Or it could be a byproduct of compounding financial difficulties, where your only possessions, like house and lot, had been sold or pawned to keep you afloat in jail. Or it could be a consequence of judicial limbo, where you have been tried for a number of years and the judge has not made a decision on your innocence or guilt, or it could be a combination of these cumulative strains. Buryong... a deadly term Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) try to avoid. If not properly managed, it is sensitive tinderbox that ignites the flame of violence. Even the most religious and peaceful man can mutate to a violent exploding beast when a buryong is pushed to the wall. Statements, such as, "pare, di na dumadalaw si kumare, baka nag-tumbling na siya kay kumpare" (your wife is no longer visiting, she left for another man) must be avoided. PDLs are taught to be sensitive to the plight of the buryong. After all, no one escapes its grips. PDLs have different techniques to avoid boredom (iwas-buryong). Some while away time by playing chess and dama, a few write letters to family members, and others count the numbers of visitors passing by. Some may spend time through endless hours of sleep. Others keep busy by enrolling in rehabilitation programs and participating in worship activities. PDLs develop their own techniques for survival and growth. What compounds the problem of buryong is the lack of space and resources for meaningful activities. Despite the best efforts of jail and prison officials and the active involvement of the Non-governmental organizations, only a few inmates can be accommodated in structured activities. Many PDLs are left idle and bored. Thus, alternative iwas-buryong activities,like drug and alcohol use, engagement in bundulan (gossips) and power-struggles also become "exciting" activities (pampatanggal-buryong). PDLs may orchestrate a noise barrage against the management, or may foment riots and gang wars, just to make their existence "meaningful." Engagement in these playful but violent activities declares that PDLs are still alive and that their existence, however trivial it may be by the outside society, is a still a matter of importance. Thus, jail and prison management should understand the dynamics of buryong. It has both structural and individual causes and manifestations. A jail warden and prison superintendent must always strive to address the structural sources of strain (crowding, lack of space, lack of activities) and the individual mental conditions that alleviates buryong (improving visitations and contact to family members). Being respectful to the PDLs and mindful to the strenuous conditions they are in, will go along way in reducing buryong. For indeed, PDLs may be detained, but they are not contained. #DetainedButNotContained
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