Photo by Tetch Torres-Tupas
MANILA, Philippines —Before the end of the Marcos administration in 2028, the 15-hectare Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City will be closed, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang announced Monday.
Catapang said the so-called persons deprived of liberty (PDL) would be relocated to several penal colonies outside of Metro Manila as part of its overall plan to decongest its prison facilities.
This is by building regional prisons and transferring heinous crime convicts to high-tech prison facilities inside three military reservation camps in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
“Ito pong CIW na ito ay kasama sa ating programa na ilipat outside of Metro Manila. Ito pong 15 hectares na ito ay isasara bago matapos ang Marcos administration,” Catapang said during the ceremony for the release of 267 inmates from the CIW, New Bilibid Prison and other penal colonies Monday.
(The CIW will be moved outside of Metro Manila. This 15-hectare facility will be closed before the end of the Marcos administration).
Catapang said they are looking at several facilities to house the CIW inmates, including Palawan, Davao, Mindoro, Leyte, and even Fort Magsaysay.
BuCor operates the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Davao Prison and Penal Farm, Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte, while it is looking at building a new facility in Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija.
Catapang said these facilities are not congested and have ample space for PDLs to bring their families with them.
“Pwede nyo pang maisama ang pamilya nyo dun sa lilipatan nyo. Maluwag po at maaliwalas kaya para na din kayong malaya,” he added.
[You can still bring your family with you to the place you’re moving to. It’s spacious and comfortable, so you’ll feel like you are free.]
As of January 2023, CIW has a population of 3,297, although its capacity is only for 1,008.
It’s congestion level is at 230 percent.
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