The house of the rising sun

A revolutionary prison without bars in a paradise island.

Criminals, murderers, rapists are serving imprisonment between work and self-management in Iwahig, on the island of Palawan. An atypical prison: no fences and cells, it houses 2,724 inmates and their families. A favorite destination for tourists, the island of Palawan with its immaculate sandy beaches and crystal clear sea, has been nominated for two consecutive years 2014 and 2015 "The most beautiful island in the world" by the readers of the prestigious travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler , and is characterized by a further peculiarity: It welcomes, in fact, a reality of prison sui generis. Under conditions of parole, many prisoners who have the privilege of residing in Iwahig can spend the day on the island in contact with tourists. The Prison and Penal Farm is set in the natural sites most popular in the world, two of which UNESCO, within an island nicknamed "the last frontier of the Philippines".

Starting from 2007, the Philippine government has introduced laws for an improvement in the living conditions of prisoners and a renewal of prisons, which in most of the structures are in terrible conditions and where the gangs continue to rule especially after the increase, beyond the capacity limit, of the prison population caused by the war on drugs launched by the Duterte government. However, in no other prison in the country has a radical change been made to reintegrate inmates into the community, a sort of "revolution" like the one that took place in Iwahig thanks to the work of the former director of the prison, Superintendent Antonio C. Cruz. Walking through the prison the main idea is not the same as you have in other same places in the world where a prisoner, once inside, becomes a dead man, waiting for the end of his sentence thinking all day about what he did without the possibility of freedom. Here the inmates really do have a second chance.

In Iwahig, inmates wear T-shirts of different colors: brown, blue or orange depending on the minimum, medium or maximum security they are assigned. This condition in variable in time and there’s the possibility for the minimum security inmates to become “skeletal”, to move freely outside of the prison and live with their families inside the structure but in private houses. From Monday to Saturday, from dawn until noon, perform different tasks: from fishing to working in the fields, from breeding to crafts, to finish the dance; a real hip hop group, in fact, dance and entertain tourists on reward. The correction program provide 6 main activities: school education, life integration (handcraft instructions), moral, therapeutic communities (to rehab inmates with drugs addictions, mainly from Shaboo methamphetamine), Spiritual (several different communities in the prison: Catholic, Cristian, Born again, Iglesia ni Cristo, Muslims, Baptists), agricultural.

The 26,629 hectares belonging to the correctional facility, consisting mainly of undulating vegetation and pure jungle, are accessible to the public. Iwahig Penal Farm produces more than any other in the country. Only 30% of the earnings is used for the maintenance of the prison and the sustenance of the inmates. The remainder of the proceeds is administered according to the Prison Law of 2013. Some prisoners are also entitled to a salary, which varies depending on the application performed: a farmer earns 1 euro and 90 cents per month, an employee twice. It is estimated that only about twenty cases of attempted escape occurred in the last decade. In November,2021 in Iwahig were detained 2,724 inmates (525min/2,078med/121max) and the total of working personnel is 255 (84 civilian, 171 custodial). In the last 10 years the prison excelled in quality of life and received each year the award of excellence for the best facility and best Superintendent of the country.

The uniqueness of this prison remains undisputed: after the election of President Duterte and what’s happening in the country, inmates are afraid that the restrictions and violence of the past could be reapplied in a place where today people have a real second possibility in life and where many decide to stay even after the end of their sentence. A prison without bars on the most beautiful island of the world.