Historical Past

Davao Penal Colony, once upon a time, was the biggest prison establishment in the country and during
World War II became an imperial garrison by the Japanese invading army. It has hidden historical role as
when it confined and left untold atrocities among its denizens, mostly American servicemen who were
imprisoned as POWs (Prisoners of War). A recent book “Escape From Davao: The Forgotten Story of the
Most Daring Prison Break of the Pacific War by John D. Lukacs, detailed the suspenseful plight of those
servicemen and how a few managed to escape and a fraction of those who evaded, survived the rigors and
challenges in crossing the unforgiving and treacherous jungle surrounding the penal facility.

During said period, the regular prison was closed down and its administrative side transferred to Iwahig
Penal Colony. For a number of years, it was detention area commanded by the Japanese Kempetai or
Special Forces. That was its history, its past, its inglorious reputation.

When War time was over, it was reopened and the facility took another persona, that of a repository of
excess prisoners from Manila. Most of those sent to serve time were all members of unruly groups, the
violent and incorrigibles. In no time, gangs predominated the landscape of the prison camp. And as certain
as their aggressive predisposition to control the prison community, relationship bordered on cruelty and
sadism. There were fierce competition to rule and control among prisoners sending the prison authorities
into feats of brutality and vicious response. Those were heady and ferocious times when the daily count of
death would average to 10. Riots in this part of the prison system were the worst in the history penal
administration. As compared from the Davao prison, the Muntinlupa penitentiary rampage was kids
play! This was in the roaring 60s.

The first Public-Private-Partnership

Then an unthinkable happened. A private company (Tagum Agricultural Development Corporation or

TADECO) explored the possibility of conducting a joint agricultural venture with Davao Prison. It was
experimental to say the least. While prisoners were bashing each other’s heads, running amuck and
imposing dreaded violence against each other, with prison authorities left merely to record casualty and
bury those who fell, a group of agriculturists were busy charting a farm that would introduce a crop which
eventually would become the second biggest export in the country. That was an ironical period in the life of
an institution. Where one faction decimates its enclave, another was pursuing for its salvation.
The succeeding chapter in the history of Davao prison was engulfed in some kind of contemplation. Prison
violence would erupt occasionally until it fizzled out, while the swamp and estuary areas enveloping the
prison camp were being transformed into an ideal farm. Prison administration and its prison community
began to notice the transformation until eventually; they were lured into a productive pursuit, a
collaborative effort in unison with development. Until finally, an agreement was forged to organize a joint
venture program.

A Template of Modern Corrective Practice

Under this program are prisoners conscripted and enrolled in a Tesda formulated farming course. This is
where qualified (soon-to-be-released or those under medium and minimum security status) inmates are
immersed in agricultural based farming and provided with stipends equivalent to the wage of an agricultural
farm worker in the free community. Some released prisoners, already skilled in banana farm care and
maintenance, are absorbed in Tadeco and other farms in nearby towns.

Dapecol has gone a long way. From a dreaded and fearful penal complex to a highly productive center of
learning where rehabilitation and reformatory programs highlight its mission and mandate.

While it was shunned as a place of terror before, now it is the template of reform programs where spirituality
and education are its principal orientation. Within its grounds stand the Shrine of Our Lady of Prisoners also.
Currently, it is the Mecca of corrective lessons, a social laboratory of Criminology colleges in the whole
eastern Mindanao.

For those in living in the periphery of the town and those residing in Davao, Davao Penal Colony is within a
vast banana plantation, considered the biggest in the world, although technically, it is the other way
around. The plantation is within the vast prison reservation of Davao Penal Colony.

Dapecol encroaches on three big local government subdivision, a city and two municipalities. Panabo city
on the western side, Dujali municipality on the eastern part, Sto Tomas Municipality on the northern
area. From Davao city, the de facto capital of Mindanao, it is 56 kilometers or an hour’s drive. Its road
distance from Manila is almost 1, 500 kilometers. By land, it can be traversed for two days. By sea, three
days trip.

Dapecol Today

Dapecol is likewise an extraordinary community segregated by farms from nearby municipal areas. In a
highly predominant Visayan dialect province of Davao del Norte, it is the only enclave where Tagalog is the
prevailing tongue. More so, it is also the only penal establishment in the country where there is a camp for
male and another camp for female offenders.

Those who have taken a glimpse and have visited the place had only fond memories of visiting an ordinary
prison breathing in an extraordinary manner.
Davao Penal Colony
Type Prison Camp
Historical Name of Location Davao, Davao, Philippines

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

The Davao Penal Colony was formed in southern Philippines in 1932 on a land about 30,000 hectares in
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size. The prison complex itself had an area of about 8,000 hectares. In Dec 1941, after the outbreak of the
Pacific War, it held about 1,000 Japanese nationals, guarded by Filipino military police reporting to an
American commanding officer. In 1942, as Japanese troops closed in on the colony, many guards simply ran
away, and many prisoners escaped during the confusion. During the Japanese occupation period, it was
taken over by the Japanese Army as a prisoners of war camp. About two thousand Americans were held at
Davao during the war. Prisoners were treated harshly in manners typical of most prisoners of war camps run
by the Japanese during this period. Several hundred former Davao prisoners were aboard the transport
Shinyo Maru when she was sunk by submarine USS Paddle off the coast of Mindanao on 7 Sep 1944. When
American troops arrived at Davao Penal Colony, they encountered bodies of dead prisoners decomposing at
the places of their deaths without having been buried.

Davao Penal Colony Timeline

7 Oct 1931 Governor Dwight Davis of the Philippines signed a proclamation which reserved a large tract of
land on Mindanao, Philippines for the construction of a penal colony.
21 Jan 1932 Davao Penal Colony was formally established in Davao (now Panabo), Philippines.
7 Nov 1942 969 American prisoners of war from Luzon, Philippine Islands arrived at the Davao Penal
Colony, Mindanao, Philippines.
8 Nov 1942 The Japanese Army formally took command of the Davao Penal Colony in southern Philippines.
30 Mar 1943 An escape planned by 12 American prisoners at the Davao Penal Colony, Mindanao, Philippines
was postponed due to a surprise Japanese inspection.
4 Apr 1943 The only large-scale prisoner of war escape of the Pacific War took place at the Davao Penal
Colony, Mindanao, Philippines. It was led by US Army Air Forces Captain William Dyess.

Photographs