The Philippine Economic Zone Authority has submitted the draft of a memorandum of understanding to the Department of Justice that would trigger the transformation of the Iwahig penal colony in Palawan into an economic zone.

"We are awaiting the result of their review and we are excited about this. It's about time we ventured into our public economic zones. From experience, when we set up our ecozones, there was nothing before," PEZA Director-General Tereso Panga told reporters last week.

Panga said they are about to transform 26,000 hectares of idle land and still be able to accommodate the present penal colony.

"We can also contribute to the reforms at the penitentiary because if you make these people productive, then they can be part of nation-building. The land there is big enough (for an ecozone). BuCor has another one in Bilibid (Muntinlupa), it is like the BGC in Taguig," he said.

"Most Iwahig inmates do not want to leave the place or reintegrate into society. So we can make them more productive," Panga added.

Self-sustaining community

He said the redevelopment project aims to become one of the legacies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the nation by creating a self-sustaining community with its own power and water sources.

Earlier this year, BuCor chief Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. announced a P205-billion plan to modernize the country's penal facilities and fast-track plans to decongest the overpopulated prisons.

He said the development and modernization program will be implemented until 2028 and it includes the construction and rehabilitation of the operating prison and penal farms at Iwahig; the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro; San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City; Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte; and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Panabo, Davao.

Catapang said they will also implement the BuCor land utilization, control and management program under Republic Act 10575, or the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013, where prison lands donated to local government units but abandoned or not developed after more than five years will revert back to the bureau for inclusion in its plans and regular programs.

The target is to turn these lands into agricultural, industrial, or commercial farms.

He also confirmed plans to jumpstart the conversion of a portion of the Muntinlupa City reservation into a central business district like Bonifacio Global City as a source of funds for the development and modernization of the prisons.