BUREAU of Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. has urged officials of seven prison and penal farms nationwide to enter into business ventures with the private sector.
Catapang cited the case of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) which has a standing joint venture agreement with the Tagum Agricultural Development Company Incorporated (Tadeco).
He said this is a model the other prison and penal farms can emulate not only to generate revenue but also enable the inmates to earn money and gain new skills which they can use when they regain their freedom.
Tadeco is a company engaged in the production and export of Cavendish bananas to Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Hong Kong, China, Russia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore with an average production of 5,000 boxes per hectare per year.
The BuCor, according to Catapang, earned between P20 million to P22 million per month for the lease of its land to Tadeco including the guaranteed annual production share where the bananas are planted.
“Persons deprived of liberty, on the other hand, also earned from Tadeco where they were employed in the packaging of its produce,” he added.
Of the total land area of 8,445.13 hectares of DPPF, more than 5,000 were leased to Tadeco for its banana plantation.
Tadeco is owned by the family of former Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr.
The BuCor chief said Tadeco’s efforts at rehabilitating the inmates by giving them agricultural and industrial training plus gainful employment and income should become a model for other penal colonies under its “Bagong BuCor Sa Bagong Pilipinas Program.”
Catapang said the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) in Palawan will soon earn from the Reformation Initiative for Sustainable Environment for Food Security (RISE) program as part of its contribution to the government’s program for food security.
Aside from the RISE program which will utilize 500 hectares out of its 28,326.41 hectares, the IPPF is being eyed as the first mega-economic zone to attract big-ticket investments with its power, water supply and port.
Catapang said the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SRPPF) in Zamboanga City is negotiating the possibility of leasing 15 hectares out of 664.71 hectares of the SRPPF for a solar project.
Another 60 hectares will be converted into economic zone for foreign investments.
