MANILA — Major infrastructure upgrades to the country’s correctional system are expected to begin in 2026, including the planned construction of a “Supermax” facility in Occidental Mindoro for persons convicted of heinous crimes.

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said Congress has allocated PHP1.5 billion for the project in 2026, followed by PHP2 billion in 2027 and PHP2.5 billion in 2028, bringing the total funding to PHP6 billion.

Catapang said the Supermax facility aims to ensure strict punishment and prevent high-risk inmates from coordinating or planning criminal activities while incarcerated.

“Ang gusto nila ay talagang maparusahan talaga iyong mga taong nagkasala at masigurado na hindi sila gumalaw pa o mag-isip pa ng masasamang plano habang nakakulong (What they want is for those who have committed crimes to be truly punished and to ensure that these people can no longer operate or plot sinister activities),” Catapang said on Bagong Pilipinas on Thursday.

The facility will be built in Sablayan, the country’s largest municipality, which also hosts the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm, a minimum-security facility focused on inmate reformation and reintegration through livelihood programs.

Catapang also announced plans to develop unused areas of the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan into an economic zone, including the construction of a university complex.

“We will be making Palawan as the new frontier of our country,” he said.

BuCor is currently decongesting the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa as part of plans to convert the 279-hectare property into a government center with housing and commercial components.

The agency likewise plans to establish a corrections academy on its 270-hectare property in Tanay, Rizal. Catapang said the academy will raise training standards to match those of Singapore, Norway, and the United States in the coming years.