The Bureau of Corrections' (BuCor) operating prison and penal farms (OPPFs) have been encouraged to enter into business ventures with the private sector to make them self-sustaining.
“Imagine kung lahat ng OPPFs namin ay may income, baka dumating ang panahon na hindi na kami hihingi ng budget sa gobyerno at kami pa ang mag bibigay (Imagine if all of the BuCor’s OPPFs have income, there will come a time when the bureau will no longer need to ask for budget from the government and generate income instead),” BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. said.
“Sa lawak ng lupain ng BuCor di malayong mangyari yan (This is not far from happening due to the huge landholdings of BuCor," Catapang pointed out.
He said that BuCor's OPPFs have a total land area of 48,783.31 hectares that can be converted to agro and aqua-culture sites as well as economic zones that can help the country attain food security and economic development.
He pointed out that among the OPPFs, the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) has been engaged in a business venture with the Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Incorporated (TADECO), a firm engaged in the production and export of fresh Cavendish bananas to Japan, Korea, Middle East, Hong Kong, China, Russia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore with an average production of 5,000 boxes per hectare per year.
TADECO leases 5,000 hectares from the DPPF’s property that measures 8,445.13 hectares, he said.
He also said that BuCor earns between P20 million to P22 million per month for the lease of its land including the guaranteed annual production share where the bananas are planted.
At the same time, he said that DPPF's persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are employed by TADECO for the packaging of its produce.
The Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm ( IPPF) in Palawan will soon earn from the Reformation Initiative for Sustainable Environment for Food Security (RISE) program that was started last year, Catapang said.
Aside from DPPF and IPPF, BuCor has five other OPPFs, namely: the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City; the Leyte Regional Prison (LRP), the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SRPPF) in Zamboanga City, and the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro.
Catapang said the bureau has started expediting the titling of all its landholdings nationwide.
BuCor's land titles would be used by the bureau in dealing with investors and other stakeholders, he said.