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2. Learning Outcomes
2.16. PHILIPPINE PRISONS

During the pre-colonial times, the informal prison system was community-based, as there
were no national penitentiaries to speak of. Natives who defied or violated the local laws
were meted appropriate penalties by the local chieftains. Incarceration in the community
was only meant to prevent the culprit from further harming the local residents.

The formal prison system in the Philippines started only during the Spanish regime, where
an organized corrective service was made operational. Established in 1847 pursuant to
Section 1708 of the Revised Administrative Code and formally opened by Royal Decree in
1865, the Old Bilibid Prison was constructed as the main penitentiary on Oroquieta Street,
Manila and designed to house the prison population of the country. This prison became
known as the “Carcel y Presidio Correccional” and could accommodate 1,127 prisoners.

     The Carcel was designed to house 600 prisoners who were segregated according to
class, sex and crime while the Presidio could accommodate 527 prisoners. Plans for the
construction of the prison were first published on September 12, 1859 but it was not until
April 10, 1866 that the entire facility was completed.

  The prison occupied a quadrangular piece of land 180 meters long on each side, which
was formerly a part of the Mayhalique Estate in the heart of Manila. It housed a building for
the offices and quarters of the prison warden, and 15 buildings or departments for prisoners
that were arranged in a radial way to form spokes. The central tower formed the hub. Under
this tower was the chapel. There were four cell-houses for the isolated prisoners and four
isolated buildings located on the four corners of the walls, which served as kitchen, hospital
and stores. The prison was divided in the middle by a thick wall. One-half of the enclosed
space was assigned to Presidio prisoners and the other half to Carcel prisoners.

In 1908, concrete modern 200-bed capacity hospitals as well as new dormitories for the
prisoners were added. A carpentry shop was organized within the confines of the facility.
For some time the shop became a trademark for fine workmanship of furniture made by
prisoners. At this time, sales of handicrafts were done through the institutions and inmates
were compensated depending on the availability of funds. As a consequence, inmates often
had to sell through the retail or barter their products.
     On August 21, 1869, the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City was
established to confine Muslim rebels and recalcitrant political prisoners opposed to the
Spanish rule. The facility, which faced the Jolo sea had Spanish-inspired dormitories and
was originally set on a 1,414-hectare sprawling estate.

When the Americans took over in the 1900s, the Bureau of Prisons was created under the
Reorganization Act of 1905 (Act No. 1407 dated November 1, 1905) as an agency under
the Department of Commerce and Police.

     It also paved the way for the re-establishment of San Ramon Prison in 1907 which was
destroyed during the Spanish-American War. On January 1, 1915, the San Ramon Prison
was placed under the auspices of the Bureau of Prisons and started receiving prisoners
from Mindanao. Before the reconstruction of San Ramon Prison, the Americans established
in 1904 the Iuhit penal settlement (now Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm) on a vast
reservation of 28,072 hectares. It would reach a total land area of 40,000 hectares in the
late 1950s. Located on the westernmost part of the archipelago far from the main town to
confine incorrigibles with little hope of rehabilitation, the area was expanded to 41,007
hectares by virtue of Executive Order No. 67 issued by Governor Newton Gilbert on
October 15, 1912.

     Other penal colonies were established during the American regime. On November 27,
1929, the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) was created under Act No. 3579 to
provide separate facilities for women offenders while the Davao Penal Colony in Southern
Mindanao was opened in 1932 under Act No. 3732.

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 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.  The Leyte Regional Prison followed
suit under Proclamation No. 1101 issued on January 16, 1973.

Non-Operational 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 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 OldBilibid 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.

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.