Undeveloped Palawan lands eyed for reversion

13,372 HECTARES

Undeveloped Palawan lands eyed for reversion

By: - Reporter /
/ 05:20 AM March 18, 2024

PHOTO: Entrance to the Iwahig Penal Farm. STORY: Undeveloped Palawan lands eyed for reversion

USEFUL BUT UNUSED | Entrance to the Iwahig Penal Farm. (Photo from the Commission on Higher Education)

MANILA, Philippines — Undeveloped former penal farmlands that were supposed to be distributed under agrarian reform 30 years ago could revert back to the (BuCor), according to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.

Remulla justified the BuCor’s plan to reclaim idle former lands of the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro and the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa City from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and city government, respectively.

Article continues after this advertisement

“We advise that the nonfulfillment by DAR of the conditions stipulated in the deeds of transfer gives the BuCor the right to revoke the transfer,” Remulla wrote BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. in a legal opinion dated March 5.

FEATURED STORIES

Some 12,300 hectares of the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm were transferred to the DAR in 1990 and 1991 as a result of former President Corazon Aquino’s Executive Order No. 407 series of 1990.

The order stated all government lands suitable for agriculture should be distributed immediately under agrarian reform within four years.

Article continues after this advertisement

Meanwhile, in 1994, the Puerto Princesa City government transferred 1,072 hectares of the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm to be developed as an industrial-commercial site based on former President Fidel Ramos’ Presidential Proclamation 350 series of 1994.

Article continues after this advertisement

Reacquiring former penal lands

Subsequent presidential proclamations declared the same lands an environmental estate in 1996 and as a resettlement and agricultural site in 2004.

Article continues after this advertisement

According to Remulla, DAR records showed that only 3,600 hectares of the former lands of the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm have been distributed to agrarian reform beneficiaries, while about 2,000 hectares in the Iwahig Penal Colony remain undeveloped.

Remulla, however, warned that BuCor must develop the former penal lands it will reacquire; otherwise, those farmlands will revert to the DAR for agrarian reform distribution.

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: BuCor: 459 inmates transferred from Bilibid to Iwahig penal farm in Palawan

“Assuming the ownership of said lands could be recovered, the lands should be actually, directly and exclusively used by BuCor for the purpose for which they have been acquired according to the development and modernization plan,” he said.

“Otherwise, DAR can acquire the lands pursuant to EO No. 75,” stressed Remulla.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the and acknowledge that I have read the .

He was referring to then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s EO 75 series of 2019 that authorized the DAR to acquire for agrarian reform distribution government lands “which are no longer actually, directly and exclusively used or necessary for the purpose for which they have been reserved or acquired.”

globalnation
cebudailynews
sports
business
lifestyle
TAGS: Bureau of Corrections, Underdeveloped Palawan lands

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the and acknowledge that I have read the .

© Copyright 1997-2024 | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies.