THREE hundred more inmates from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City were transferred to Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan as part of efforts to decongest the national penitentiary.
Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said the latest transferees arrived at Iwahig yesterday morning.
“The transfer of Persons Deprived of Liberty from NBP to other prison and penal farms across the country forms part of the agency’s effort aimed to address the pressing need for decongestion at NBP while simultaneously bolstering the manpower requirements of the penal farm for ongoing agro institutional projects,” Catapang said in a brief statement announcing the arrival of the inmates in Palawan.
“The transfers are particularly timely as we prepare the correctional facilities for the anticipated closure of the NBP in 2028,” he added.
Early this month, 200 Bilibid inmates were transferred to the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro.
The latest transferees brought to more than 10,500 the total number of Bilibid inmates transferred to various operating and prison farms since 2022.
Catapang earlier said the BuCor’s budget for this year, amounting to more than P9.2 billion, has a provision in the amount of P288 million for the actual transfer of Bilibid inmates to various operating prisons and penal farms.
