300 more inmates moved to Iwahig jail

THE Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) yesterday said another batch of 300 inmates from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City have been transferred to the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) in Palawan as part of the government’s ongoing effort to decongest the national penitentiary.

BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said the latest batch of transferees arrived in Palawan early Sunday morning on board a commercial vessel secured by prison guards.

“The transfer of PDLs or persons deprived of liberty was part of the decongestion program of the bureau. The PDLs left Manila Friday on board a commercial vessel,” Catapang said.

Since it started its decongestion campaign last year, the BuCor has so far transferred 2,309 inmates from the NBP and the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City to Iwahig (1,250 PDLs), the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (500 PDLs), and the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (562 PDLs) in Occidental Mindoro.

Catapang said this was the third batch of transferees from the NBP. The first batch was transferred last July while the second batch was relocated last October.

The Department of Justice has earlier said that BuCor prison facilities, including the NBP, have an inmate population of over 50,000 as of January this year, although their total capacity is only around 12,000, or an average congestion rate of 310 percent.

The NBP alone has an occupancy rate of 477 percent and a congestion rate of 377 percent.

It has a capacity of only 6,435 inmates but as of June this year, its inmate population is already at 30,701.

Aside from the transfer of inmates from NBP and CIW, the government has likewise been releasing qualified inmates, mostly the elderly and sick and those who have completed their sentences or have been granted parole, since July 2022.