An inmate works at a rice field at the Iwahig Penal Farm. —Photo by Tetch Torres-Tupas | INQUIRER.net
PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan, Philippines — As part of modernizing and redevelopment, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) will put up airports and seaports within the sprawling 28,328.64 hectare Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF).
Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said Sunday that BuCor already made an agreement with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) to turn the facility into an economic zone.
“What we want is to make this airport a hub,” he said.
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Catapang explained that, from the airport, the public can ride to smaller planes to El Nido, Coron, Botswanga, and Balapak.
He said the airport within the IPPF would be 1,000 hectares — almost twice the size of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3.
Meanwhile, Catapang said BuCor was also hoping to turn the seaport at the IPPF into an international port that could serve Asean-member countries.
“We are building up the Bimp-Eaga (Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia, Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area,” he said.
Bimp-Eaga was established in 1994 to promote development cooperation within the region.