#iwahig

#bagonglaya 😂 #iwahig #iwahigprisonandpenalfarm (at Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj7QKJ6r1A8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

IWAHIG PENAL FARM: Ano nga ba ang ginagawa ng mga Priso doon?

Can't help it but these #redbrickwalls are #instagrammable #worthy at #Iwahig #Prison #Penal #Farm 😂#October2017 #PuertoPrincesa #Palawan photo by @martinblomnl (at Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm)

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Scenes of the Iwahig Penal Colony, The Philippines, c. 1930.  From John Gillin, Taming the Criminal: Adventures in Penology. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1931. “"I suppose the colonists here are the less serious offenders," I remarked to Director Victorio as we walked up past the long line of inmates of the Iwahig Penal Colony on the Sunday morning we landed there to visit the colony . "Well," he said, "you see that man over there? That is Angel Saria. He was one of the most desperate bandits in northern Luzon a few years ago. He was finally captured, tried, and sentenced to Bilibid. After a period of training there, he did so well that he was allowed to transfer to Iwahig. He is now a trusty in a responsible position in the colony ." He added, "You see that man at the head of the column." He was a sergeant of police in Manila, who was sent to prison for falsification of the police records. Today he is the chief municipal officer of the colony." He added, "Did you notice that small bronzed figure who came on the boat to get us at Puerto Princesa? That is a Moro Dato - a chief among the Moros. He was sentenced for life for insurrection. I transferred him to Iwahig because, when he came to San Ramon Prison, I put him in charge of the training of the Moro prisoners on good conduct. They respected him because of his position among his people. He did so well there that I thought he would be of service here. When he heard that we were coming for this visit, he left on foot through the wilderness and travelled from three o'clock Saturday until this morning in order to be here." So he went on, telling me of case after case in which there had been a most remarkable transformation of attitude toward society. After we had been served refreshments at the superintendent's house, almost two thousand of these colonists with their band at the head marched past the reviewing stand in the plaza of the central station of the colony, a plaza named in honor of the Philippine patriot, Jose Rizal. At the end of the procession came about twenty water buffaloes with a convict astride each one, then the Indian humped cattle each ridden by a prisoner. It was a very remarkable sight. Even more remarkable in many ways was the assembly of the colonists at five o'clock that evening. They were led by the band to a position in front of the band stand from which the director made a speech to them. At the close of his address he asked if anyone had any complaints as to his treatment in the colony. There was silence for a few minutes; then an old man raised his hand. When asked to state his complaint, he said that the governor had promised to pardon him, but the pardon had not come. Then another old man said that he had been there twelve years and he thought he ought to be pardoned. These two were followed by perhaps a dozen more old men asking for pardon. The director finally remarked that he had asked for complaints, not requests for pardon, that he had no power to pardon, but would look into the cases and recommend certain of them to the Governor-General for pardon. There were no complaints. As evening settled down over the colony the colonists made their way to their respective stations. In the dusk of the evening the memory of about a score of old colonists asking for pardon, men who were too old to be capable of repeating their crimes, stuck in my mind. "Why is there no parole system by which these old men can be set at liberty under supervision?" I thought. Languishing in every prison in the United States which has no parole system are similar sad cases which can be handled only by executive clemency.   When we left the colony to take the ship back to Manila, I had time to visit the little town at Puerto Princesa. I got into conversation with one of the provincial officers there. I asked him what he thought of the results on the men who had been at Iwahig. "Well," he said, "many of them when discharged settle down here with their families and take up a piece of land. They become our best settlers. They are industrious, as most of those here are not, and they make very substantial citizens." Remember that the provincial politicians at Puerto Princesa are not friendly to the prison administration. The island of Palawan on which the colony is located is mostly undeveloped land. The colonists have been taught to work under the supervision of trained agriculturists. They have learned the value of money and of good conduct in the colony. What is this colony which has accomplished such results from which men come not as jailbirds with a stigma attached which prevents their success? It comprises some one hundred thousand acres of what was once untamed wilderness. It varies in character from swamp to mountains. It is cut up by rivers which rush down from the mountains, furnishing plenty of water for irrigation of the rice and coconut trees which the colonists have planted. Governor-General Luke Wright and later Governor-General Forbes are responsible for the inception of the colony. Mr. Quillen, who was one of the first directors of the Bureau of Prisons, took an active interest in it, but the colony has had its ups and downs.   In the early days there were insurrections among the convicts, there were scandals in the administration, there were numerous escapes. After numerous trials and failures, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Mr. Quillen, sent Ramon Victorio, who was assistant superintendent of the San Ramon Prison and Penal Colony in Mindanao, to Iwahig as assistant superintendent. He was placed in charge of agriculture, and in charge of the discipline. He discovered that in the trouble there were about five ringleaders. These he called before him. He told them that he would not be bullied by threats of force on their part. He put pistols in their hands and charged them with the responsibility of putting down any disturbance among their fellows. He also told them for one week they would have the opportunity to kill him, for he would sleep unguarded and would carry only a walking stick for his protection. If they did not kill him during that week, he would expect them to obey him implicitly thereafter. At the end of the week the leaders met him again, handed over their weapons, and agreed to co-operate with the assistant superintendent. His physical courage and his business-like methods inspired confidence and there was no further trouble. Shortly thereafter he was made superintendent, the first native to hold the position.  That action is characteristic of his dealings with the criminals under his charge. He knows criminal psychology.   This colony is intended for first offenders who have proved their good conduct and industry in Bilibid. Recidivists of more than two convictions are not sent to Iwahig. Usually only first offenders sentenced to from twelve years to life are eligible. Of these, only those are eligible who have served a fifth of their sentences, at least two years, and have by good conduct attained the rank of first class and are ready to go into the highest or "trusty" class. An administrative order, approved January 1, 1926, stipulated eligibility for promotion to "penal colonist" or "trusty" and was made to depend on having served at least one-tenth of the sentence imposed by the court and having attained a general conduct rating of 95 per cent for at least one year immediately preceding the completion of that period of one-tenth of the sentence.  The following description of the organization of the colony will present in outline form the way in which matters are arranged: Under the Spanish regime, exile was a method of punishment. The island of Palawan was used as this place of banishment. After the Americans took over the Philippines in 1898 nothing was done to change this place of exile into a penal colony until 1904. Then under Governor-General Luke Wright and W. Cameron Forbes, at that time Secretary of Commerce and Police, later Governor-General, a penal colony was established. Developments in many lines have occurred since that small beginning. At present (1928) the colony occupies an area of over 100,000 acres and has about 2000 inmates including the families of some 90 of the prisoners. The inmates are divided into two groups, "colonists" and "settlers." The latter are colonists who are allowed to bring their families to the colony, and live with them in separate dwellings in a barrio or district in charge of an officer called a terriente del barrio or village sheriff, elected by the "settlers" from their own number. These districts are near to the central station, so that the children may attend the schools established there for the education of the employees' children.  The "colonists" are scattered in some forty districts over the estate in groups of from 30 to 60, each carrying on some phase of colony activity. This group is divided into the following functional sections: (1) Animal husbandry; (2) band; (3) construction and repair; (4) engineering and machinery; (5) executive; (6) farming; (7) forestry; (8) health and sanitation; (9) horticulture; (10) information; (11) land transportation; (12) out-stations; (13) police; (14) bridges and roads; (15) water transportation; (16) miscellaneous. The construction and repair section has charge of all building, repair and maintenance of all structures in the colony. They make the brick and tile, do the tinsmithing, and burn the lime needed. The road and bridge section builds the bridges and have constructed all the roads in the colony. The engineering and machinery section operates the power and electric plant, manufactures the ice, maintains the cold storage, operates the sawmills and planers, the sugar mills and the threshing machines. The animal industry section has charge of the more than 2000 head of cattle, about 500 water buffalo, and thousands of other domestic animals and fowls. It carries on the dairying and butchers the meat for the colony.  The care of the animals and fowls there, as here, has a wholesome influence on the colonists. Here are beings for which they are responsible. These animals they can subject and care for and thus feed their famishing instincts of dominance and sympathy. Here are beings which look up to them. Animals know no artificial social distinctions between a free man and a criminal.   The water transportation section has charge of the operation, maintenance, and repair of the boats, the hauling of firewood, and many other miscellaneous matters. The land transportation section maintains the motors and other vehicles on land and hauls gravel for road construction and materials for buildings. Those in the out-stations section are divided into two subsections: the agricultural and the fishing. The former has charge of the planting and the cultivation of coconut trees, tapioca, bananas, rice, corn, and fruit trees, the making of copra, and other agricultural work. The latter catches the fish used in the colony, often going out to sea in launches for a week at a time. They make and repair the fish nets, dig and care for the fish ponds, dry the fish, etc. The police section, from the standpoint of penology, is one of the most interesting. Those in this section maintain peace and order, execute the punishments, disciplinary measures, and orders. The members are all colonists appointed by the superintendent of the colony and are under the immediate charge of a chief known as Lieutenant of Police. The duties of those in the other sections are sufficiently indicated by their names. The colonists work under a system which keeps the economic motive alive. Half of the net value of their products they get to their credit, the other half going to the government. All the improvements in the colony, such as clearing the land, irrigation, planting the trees, etc., roads, buildings – all are products of the labor of the colonists. Cultural institutions at Iwahig are not neglected.  At the central station near which most of the ‘settlers’ (practically all those with families) live are schools for the children. These schools both the children of the "settlers" and of the officers attend without any distinction between them. Moreover, the children of the convicts play with the children of the officers. One of the large buildings in the group at the central station is the community hall. This is a large recreation hall at which concerts, dances, plays, and exhibits are given. The colonists and the employees and their respective families attend these functions. One night we were there a dance was given. It was impossible for me to tell which were the families of the colonists and which were the families of the officers. They mingled indiscriminately so far as I could observe. Moreover, there are two churches at the central station attended by the officers and their families and by the settlers and their families. Certainly it was a new thing to me in the conduct of an institution for convicts. To them it did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Half of the officers had been convicts in former years!  The small number of employees necessary to run the colony is astonishing. They are: superintendent, first and second assistant superintendents, physician, nurse, chief clerk, cashier, property officer, farming instructor, two chaplains, eight foremen, bandmaster, and three teachers. Many of the employees are ex-colonists. Only the superintendent has a weapon! All the colonists carry bolos!  Does this colony pay? In 1925 the gross income of the colony was 113,808.43 pesos and the expenses 203,910.48 pesos. Thus the net cost was 90,102.05 pesos ($45,051), or an average of about $22.50 per inmate. As at Bilibid the discipline is in the hands of a court under the police section which tries all offenders. There are also Justices of the Peace appointed from among the colonists to try.”     - John Gillin, Taming the Criminal: Adventures in Penology. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1931. pp. 54-60 

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In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.