The Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) still has space to accommodate 500-1,000 inmates from the New Bilibid Prison Reservation (NBPR) in Muntinlupa City.
Levi Evangelista, corrections technical officer and Iwahig prison spokesperson, said the jail facility can accommodate inmates or persons deprived of liberty (PDL) in medium security.
“Last time ganoon din pinadala sa amin, around 500 pero sa dami ng releases ngayon kaya umunti ng umunti so we can still accommodate up to 500- 1,000 ulit, depende sa classification board ng national headquarters kung ilan ang ipapadala sa amin,” he said Thursday.
Evangelista said the IPPF has a population of 2,800 inmates and the granting of Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) helped to hasten the releases of many of them.
He added that the IPPF has around 4,000 inmates before it was decongested with the help of the GCTA.
Accommodating additional inmates will help the IPPF management prepare its agricultural production which the inmates themselves plant within the penal farm.
The transfer of inmates to Iwahig also helps in decongesting the Bilibid prison, he said.
“Dito matuturuan sila magtanim, livelihood projects at mga souvenir shop, tuturuan sila pagdating nila dito,” Evangelista said.
He said they do not have any information on how many and when the transfer of the inmates will materialize.
“On the process pa lang ‘yan maybe next year. O, minsan biglaan din,” he added.
