The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) is set to relocate the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City outside Metro Manila before 2028.
The plan was disclosed by BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. on Monday, May 15, during the ceremony at CIW on the simultaneous release of 267 qualified persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from BuCor’s facilities nationwide.
“Itong CIW na ito ay kasama sa ating programa na ilipat outside Metro Manila (The CIW is part of our program to move it out of Metro Manila),” Catapang said.
“Itong 15 hectares na lupa na ito ay isasara natin bago matapos ang administrasyon ng ating mahal na Pangulo (This 15-hectare land will be vacated before the end of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.),” he said.
He said the PDLs at CIW will be transferred to existing BuCor prisons which have facilities for female inmates like those in Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) in Davao del Norte, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental MIndoro, and Leyte Regional Prison (LRP) in Abuyog, Leyte.
The is part of BuCor’s efforts to decongest its prisons and establish regional prisons, he also said.
Earlier, BuCor had also disclosed plans to shut down the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City and convert it into a government center and business district called the BuCor Global City.
“The BuCor Global City will not be for sale but will be offered for long term lease para habang tumataas ang value ng lupa, tumataas din ang renta (so that whenever the value of land increases so will the rent also),” Catapang had said in a previous statement
He had also said that he had been instructed by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla to also allot at least 80 hectares out of the 375 .61 hectares in the planned BuCor Global City for socialized housing intended for informal settlers, BuCor employees and retirees, and other government employees.