The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said on Thursday, July 29, it may soon put up a regional prison facility in Cagayan to further decongest the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
In a statement, BuCor said that Deputy Director General for Operations and Administration Gabriel P. Chaclag had met with Cagayan Gov. Manuel N. Mamba for the project.
“Gov. Manuel Mamba readily agreed for the establishment of a regional facility in their province and offered 250 hectares of land located at Barangay San Mariano, Lal-lo, Cagayan,” Bucor said.
“It will only take some documentations to actually seal the deal for the realization of this BuCor project,” it said.
“The vast area can be also used for agricultural and other livelihood programs of BuCor with one hundred percent support from the provincial government,” it added.
During the meeting, BuCor said that Deputy Director General Chaclag asked Mamba to allow the setting up a satellite office in Cagayan “to serve as an extension of BuCor services such as E-dalaw for PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) and their relatives, filing of applications for BuCor and processing of documents relative to release of PDLs.”
Under Republic Act No. 10575, the BuCor “may propose additional penal farms as may be necessary as possible, aside from its existing seven (7) prisons and penal farms to decongest existing penal institutions and accommodate the increasing number of inmates committed to the agency.”
Last June, BuCor had also met with Isabela Gov. Rodolfo T. Albano III for the setting up of the same facility in the province.
“The good governor of Isabela Province, responded immediately and requested for a meeting with BuCor to discuss about the plan to establish BuCor Facility which can house 4,000 PDLs in the region,” BuCor said.
Aside from the NBP, the other BuCor facilities in the country are the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF), Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IWPPF) in Puerto Princesa City, Leyte Regional Prison (LRP), and the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Zamboanga City.