PUERTO PRINCESA CITY (PIA) -- The productivity of the agro-industrial initiatives at the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa City will get additional muscle with the arrival of 499 prisoners who were transferred from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
According to CTO II Levi Evangelista, public information officer of the Iwahig Penal and Prison Farm, the prisoners, who were under “medium security”, arrived on Saturday via a commercial vessel from Manila. The prisoners were sent directly to the prison’s central sub-colony.
“Siksikan talaga sa NBP kaya sabi ni Director- General Gregorio Catapang, Jr. na i-decongest na, ang lalaki ng prison and penal farm. Sabi niya, why not i-distribute natin doon. Dito sa Iwahig, kinakailangan din naman ng PDL,
[NBP is really congested, that is why Director General Gregorio Catapang, Jr. ordered it to be decongested as the prisons and penal farms of the Bureau of Corrections are spacious. He said, why not distribute (PDLs) there? Here in Iwahig, we also need PDL],” he said.
Evangelista added that the arrival of the fourth batch will also replace the number of prisoners who were freed in 2023. PDLs will also be an additional workforce in strengthening the agro-industrial projects of the penal prison.
IPPF holds orientation and briefing to PDLs before sending them to central and Montible sub-colonies. (Photo from IPPF/ Levi Evangelista)
Iwahig has already received 1,746 jail inmates from the Bilibid since June 2023.
Catapang said that the bureau wants to transfer 2,500 PDLs to decongest NBP and convert it into a BuCor Global City.
Evangelista said no orders have yet been received if there will be another batch of transferees to follow in the first quarter of 2024.
The penal prison now houses a total of 4,120 PDLs within its four sub-colonies and is guarded by 473 personnel.
It also prepares the 10-hectare dormitory compound that will also aid in accommodating additional PDLs in IPPF. It has a budget of P300 million and 50 cells inside.
“Ang ratio naman is proportional (of IPPF personnel)— Hindi sila transfer, ito ‘yong mga recruit na nagtraining. This is the first time that we have a training school na dito ginanap sa Palawan,
[The ratio is proportional (of IPPF personnel)-- They are not transferees, they are recruits from training. This is the first time that we have had a training school here in Palawan,“ he said. (RG/PIA MIMAROPA - Palawan)
Banner photo from IPPF/ Levi Evangelista
