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Institutional Corrections

Chapter 8

At the end of this chapter the student should be able to:

• Orient themselves on the development of prisons

• Explain the history of correctional agencies in the
Philippines

DEVELOPMENTS AFTER WORLD WAR II

After World War II,

there was a surplus of
steel matting in the
inventory and it was
used to improve the
security fences of the
prison. A death chamber
was constructed in 1941
at the rear area of the
camp when the mode of
execution was through
electrocution. In the
late ‘60s, fences were
further reinforced with
concrete slabs. The
original institution became the maximum-security compound in the 70s and
continues to be so up to present, housing not only death convicts and

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inmates sentenced to life
terms, but also those
with numerous pending
cases, multiple
convictions and
sentences of more than 20
years. In the 1980s, the
height of the concrete
wall was increased and
another facility was
constructed, 2.5
kilometers from the main
building. This became
known as Camp Sampaguita
or the Medium Security
Camp, which was used as a military stockade during the martial law years
and the Minimum-Security Camp, whose first site was christened “Bukang
Liwayway”. Later on, this was transferred to another site within the
reservation where the former depot was situated.
Under Proclamation No. 72 issued on September 26, 1954, the
Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro was established. In
the Leyte Regional Prison followed suit under Proclamation No. 1101
issued on January 16, 1973.

NON-OPERATIONAL NATIONAL PRISONS

FORT BONIFACIO PRISON:

A committee report
submitted to then
President Carlos P.
Garcia described Fort
Bonifacio, formerly known
as Fort William McKinley,
as a military reservation
located in Makati, which
was established after the
Americans came to the
Philippines. The prison

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was originally used as a detention center for offenders of US military
laws and ordinances.
After the
liberation of the
Philippines, the
reservation was
transferred to the
Philippine government,
which instructed the
Bureau of Prisons to use
the facility for the
confinement of maximum-
security prisoners. For
several years,
incorrigibles were mixed
with political prisoners
(those convicted of
rebellion) at the Fort Bonifacio facility until June 30, 1968, when it
was converted into a prison exclusively for political offenders.
After a bloody April 1969 riot at the Muntinlupa facility, however,
incorrigible prisoners from Muntinlupa were transferred to Fort
Bonifacio.
During the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal, the Fort
was renamed Fort Andres Bonifacio. The correctional facility was
also renamed Fort Bonifacio Prison. The one-story building now stands
on a one-hectare area.
The Fort Bonifacio Prison continued to be a satellite prison of
the national penitentiary even after martial law was lifted. It was
only in the late 1980’s that the facility was vacated by the Bureau of
Prisons.
CORREGIDOR PRISON STOCKADE: In 1908 during the American regime, some
100 prisoners were transferred from the Old Bilibid Prison to Corregidor
Island to work under military authorities. This move was in accordance
with an order from the Department of Instructions, which approved the
transfer of inmates so they could assist in maintenance and other
operations in the stockade.
The inmates were transported not to serve time but for prison
labor. Until the outbreak of the Second World War, inmates from Old
Bilibid Prison were regularly sent to Corregidor for labor purposes.

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When the War broke out, prisoners on Corregidor were returned to
Bilibid Prison. The island prison was never reopened.
BONTOC PRISON: The Philippine Legislature during the American regime
passed Act No. 1876 providing for the establishment of a prison in Bontoc
in Mountain Province. The prison was built for the prisoners of the
province and insular prisoners who were members of the non-Christian
tribes of Mountain Province and Nueva Viscaya.
Bontoc prison could be reached only through narrow, poorly
developed mountain roads. Due to the enormous expenses incurred in
transporting personnel, equipment and supplies to the prison, the
facility.

TRANSFER OF BILIBID PRISON TO MUNTINLUPA

The increasing number of

committals to the Old
Bilibid Prison, the growing
urbanization of Manila and
the constant lobbying by
conservative groups prompted
the government to plan and
develop a new site for the
national penitentiary, which
was to be on the outskirts of
the urban center.
Accordingly, Commonwealth
Act No. 67 was enacted,
appropriating one million
(P1,000.000.00) pesos for the construction of a new national prison in
the southern suburb of Muntinlupa, Rizal in 1935. The old prison was
transformed into a receiving center and a storage facility for farm
produce from the colonies. It was later abandoned and is now under the
jurisdiction of the Public Estates Authority.

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On November 15, 1940, all
inmates of the Old Bilibid
Prison in Manila were
transferred to the new site.
The new institution had a
capacity of 3,000 prisoners
and it was officially named
the New Bilibid Prison on
January 22, 1941. The prison
reservation has an area of
587 hectares, part of which
was arable. The prison
compound proper had an area
of 300 x 300 meters or a total
of nine hectares. It was surrounded by three layers of barbed wire.

References:

• Bureau of Corrections: http://www.bucor.gov.ph/

• http://www.bucor.gov.ph/history/history%201.html
• http://www.bucor.gov.ph/history/history%202.html

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