DAVAO

PRISON
AND
PENAL
FARM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
II.

III.
IV.

INTRO BRIEF HISTORY/FUNCTION

PRISON/JAIL ORGANIZATION AND
STRUCTURE
PROBLEM SITUATION
THE RECOMMENDATION

LT GEORGE MWOLFE
Director
1904 - 1910
He was an officer of
the United States
Expeditionary Force
under the American
governor general in
the Philippines, Luke
Wright.

There was no Bureau of Prisons at the

time. Areas were merely set aside where
convicts were sent to serve their sentence.
The Americans studied the archipelago
and developed a penal settlement in
Palawan, where they formulated a
program for offenders.

November 16, 1904 - they authorized

the establishment of the penal settlement
called Iuhit and it was later renamed
Iwahig.

1907 - Philippine Commission passed Act

No. 1723 ,further defined the status of the
Iwahig settlement as a penal institution.

Wolfe became
Prisons.

1917 Bureau was placed under the

Department of Justice and remained up to
the present.

He was head of the Bureau of Prisons

from 1904 to 1910.

the

first

Director

of

On October 7, 1931, Governor Dwight Davis signed

proclamation 414 which reserved a site for Penal Colony
in Davao Province in Mindanao

January 21, 1932 by virtue of Act No. 3732, the Davao

Penal Colony was formally established.

During World War II, it was used by the PhilippineAmerican Armed Forces were more than 1000 Japanese
were treated in accordance with the orders of American
commanding officer.

December 20, 1941 The Japanese Imperial Forces

attacked Davao and the colony was among of the
establishments that were taken over by the imperial
army.

November

8, 1942, a representative of the

Director of Prisons transferred the colony and
its properties to the Japanese authorities.
The

remaining colony employees, their

families and the inmates evacuated to Iwahig
where they organized the Davao Penal Colony
at Inagawan sub colony (Palawan).
The

organization of the colony in exile was

authorized by virtue of Memorandum Order
No. 60 dated June 28, 1943 and signed by the
Director of Prisons.

The Davao Penal Colony is the first

penal
settlement
founded
and
organized under Filipino administration.
The settlement, which originally had an
area of approximately 30,000 hectares
in the districts of Panabo and Tagum,
Davao
del
Norte,
was
formally
established on January 21, 1932 by
virtue of Act No. 3732.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

RICARDO RAINIER G. CRUZ III

Director General
Bureau of Corrections

TEODORA M. DIAZOfficerIn-Charge
Office of the Assistant
Director for Admin and
Rehab

AMADEO JOSE C. FORTEZA III

Assistant Director
for Prison and Security

TEODORA M.
DIAZChief
Administrativ
e Division

MARIA CIELO O.
MONSALUD
Chief
Budget and
Finance
Division

LIGAYA A.
DADORChief
Accounting
Division

NORA
CORAZON T.
PADIERNOS
Chief
Management
Division

SUPT. MARIO E.
TRASMONTE
Officer-InCharge
General
Services
Division

MARLON
MORALESChief
Industry
Development
Division

LARRY A. HARI
Acting Chief
Proc. Supply
Property Mngt
Div.

ATTY. ALVIN H.
LIMChief
Legal Office

RESURRECCION
S. MORALESChief
Education
Division

ELSA A.
ALABADOOfficerIn-Charge
Reception and
Diagnostic
Center

CYNTHIA P. DE
LARAOfficer-InCharge
Medical and
Dental Division

MSGR. ROBERTO
A. OLAGUER
Chief
Moral and
Spiritual Division

DALMACIO L.
GONZALES JR.Chief
Information
Technology Center

EMERENCIA M.
DIVINA
Officer In Charge
Documents Division

SUPT. RICHARD W
SCHWARZKOPF JR
Superintendent
New Bilibid Prison

EDILINDA G.
PATAC, MD
Officer-InCharge
Correctional
Institution for
Women

PIS GERARDO
PADILLA
Officer-InCharge
Davao Prison
and Penal Farm

SUPT. CELSO
S. BRAVO
Superintende
nt
San Ramon
Prison and
Penal Farm

GUILLERMO B.
AYALA
Officer-In-Charge
Sablayan Prison
and Penal Farm

PIS GERALDO I.
ARO
Officer-In-Charge
Leyte Regional
Prison

SUPT. ANTONIO C.
CRUZ
Superintendent
Iwahig Prison and
Penal Farm

The first Public-Private-Partnership

Then an unthinkable happened. A
private company (Tagum Agricultural
Development Corporation or TADECO)
explored the possibility of conducting
a joint agricultural venture with Davao
Prison.
The succeeding chapter in the
history of Davao prison was engulfed
in some kind of contemplation.


Prison violence would erupt
occasionally until it fizzled out, while
the swamp and estuary areas
enveloping the prison camp were
being transformed into an ideal
farm.
Prison administration and its
prison community began to notice
the transformation until eventually;
they were lured into a productive
pursuit, a collaborative effort in
unison with development.

A Template of Modern Corrective

Practice
EDUCATION - Under this program are
prisoners conscripted and enrolled in a
Tesda formulated farming course. This
is where qualified (soon-to-be-released
or those under medium and minimum
security status) inmates are immersed
in agricultural based farming and
provided with stipends equivalent to
the wage of an agricultural farm
worker in the free community.

Some released prisoners, already

skilled in banana farm care and
maintenance, are absorbed in Tadeco
and other farms in nearby towns.
Dapecol has gone a long way.
From a dreaded and fearful penal
complex to a highly productive
center
of
learning
where
rehabilitation
and
reformatory
programs highlight its mission and
mandate.

While it was shunned as a place

of terror before, now it is the
template of reform programs
where
SPIRITUALITY
AND
EDUCATION are its principal
orientation.
Within its grounds
stand the Shrine of Our Lady of
Prisoners also.

For those in living in the periphery of

the town and those residing in Davao,
Davao Penal Colony is within a vast
banana plantation, considered the
biggest in the world, although
technically, it is the other way around.
The plantation is within the vast prison
reservation of Davao Penal Colony.
Currently, it is the Mecca of
corrective lessons, a social laboratory
of Criminology colleges in the whole
eastern Mindanao.

Dapecol Today
Dapecol is likewise an extraordinary
community segregated by farms from
nearby municipal areas. In a highly
predominant Visayan dialect province
of Davao del Norte, it is the only
enclave where Tagalog is the prevailing
tongue. More so, it is also the only
penal establishment in the country
where there is a camp for male and
another camp for female offenders.

Those who have taken a glimpse and

have visited the place had only fond
memories of visiting an ordinary prison
breathing in an extraordinary manner.

Classification of Inmates

Maximum= M-154 F-114

Medium= M-3694 F- 154
Minimum= M-1229 F- 56
RDC=
M-75F- 10

Total= M-6546
F336
6, 879 INMATES

DAPECOL Problem Situation

Personnel

Guard ratio (1:7), now (1:10)

Congestion
Facilities

Firearms
Vehicle
Comfort room

Reformation Programs
Work and Livelihood
Healthcare Services
Education and Skills Training
Sports and Recreation
Moral and Spiritual Program
Therapeutic Community

Recommendation
1.

2.

Additional Personnel to strengthen

the number of personnel per ratio
ans additional prison staff to
facilitate,
guard,
and
handle
prisoners.
Facilities to establish additional
facilities
that
will
cater
the
increasing population of prisoner.

Jhe....paki dagdagan...kahit anu

lang.kung anu man kulang...kaya mo
nayan. Mdjo mahaba. May i attach
ako na file..baka maka tulong.
to jay ann.docx

Documentation of Group

Groups Member

Joseph J. Nestoso
Eric G. Caso
Jaymhar P. Esquibel
Richard R. Taal
Felix M. Corvera Jr.
Mariz Parcon
Sherwin Cabutija
Jay Ann Ahit