A harvest festival in line with the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Justice (DOJ) Reformation Initiative for Sustainable Environment for Food Security (RISE) Project was successfully carried out from December 5 to 7, 2023, at the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF).
The event was led by Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang, Jr. and CCINSP Gary A. Garcia, IPPF Superintendent together with MR. Gerald Glen F. Panganiban Ph.D., Director, Bureau of Plant Industry, Concurrent Program and Director, High-Value Crops Development Program, and National Urban Peri-Urban Agriculture Program, Ms. Melissa Macasaet, City Agriculturist, Puerto Princesa City Government and representatives from the Private Sector Partners.
Catapang said this is the beginning of the result our persons deprived of liberty’s hard work of giving back to the community as the program showed the initial success of the ongoing DA x DOJ RISE project, in which various crops were harvested during the activity such as sweetcorn, watermelon, ampalaya, okra, tomatoes, red peppers, melon, sitaw, eggplant, cucumber, and rice.
These harvested vegetables and crops will be available for the locals of Puerto Princesa at affordable prices through Kadiwa Pop-Up Stores which will be accessible around the city proper.
After merely four months from the beginning of this noble project, the collective efforts, hard work, and perseverance of each individual who contributed to its ongoing success truly exhibit resilience and determination to attain the main goal of the DA, DOJ, RISE Project which is to provide effective reformation programs to Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) and at the same time to support the nation’s food security.
Further, this only marks the beginning of more significant outcomes of this project as the DA, DOJ, the BUCOR, and IPPF together with the Private Sector Partners continuously commit to provide collaborative support that aims to achieve the fruitful success of this project.
Catapang said that this will be replicated in our other operating prison and penal farms nationwide to help in government’s food security program.
