Davao_Penal_Colony

Davao Prison and Penal Farm

Davao Prison and Penal Farm

Penal settlement in Davao, Philippines

Davao Prison and Penal Farm, formerly the Davao Penal Colony (DaPeCol), was established on January 21, 1932, in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, Philippines. It has a land area of 30,000 hectares with a prison reservation of 8,000 hectares. During World War II, the Davao Penal Colony was the biggest prison establishment in the country which was used by the Japanese invading army as their imperial garrison.[1]

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History

Aerial view of Davao Penal Colony, 1936

On October 7, 1931, Governor Dwight Davis signed proclamation 414 which reserved a site for Penal Colony in Davao Province in Mindanao and on January 21, 1932, the Davao Penal Colony was formally established under Act No. 3732. During World War II, it was used by the Philippine-American Armed Forces where more than 1000 Japanese were treated in accordance with the orders of the American commanding officer. The Japanese Imperial Army attacked Davao on December 20, 1941, and the colony was among the establishments that were taken over by the Imperial Army.[1]

American POW camp

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Two thousand American prisoners were held in the penal colony after Japan's conquest of the Philippines in World War II. Some of the prisoners, survivors of the Bataan Death March, escaped in Spring 1943.[2] When the twelve men escaped, later joining Wendell Fertig's guerrillas, the Japanese beheaded twenty-five prisoners. Major Stephen Mellnik, of Douglas MacArthur's South West Pacific Area (command), inserted the M1 S-X intelligence officer Capt. Harold Rosenquist into Mindanao in an attempt to rescue the Americans before they could be moved. However, the Japanese had already evacuated the camp, placing the American prisoners on a ship bound for Japan. However, that ship was sunk by an American submarine, and only eighty-three reached shore and were rescued by guerrillas.[3]: 395–397 [4]: 21–23 

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Davao Prison and Penal Farm". Bureau of Corrections. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  2. [2]
    Study of former prisoners of war. United States Veterans Administration. 1980.
  3. [3]
    Keats, J., 1963, They Fought Alone, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company
  4. [4]
    Childress, C., 2003, Wendell Fertig's Fictional "Autobiography":A Critical Review of They Fought Alone, Bulletin of the American Historical Collection, Vol. 31, No. 1 (123), Jan. 2003
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