6 o’clock in the morning of 16 February 2023, five cars and twenty men from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) arrived at Masungi Georeserve. They said they have orders to conduct an “ocular inspection” of the alleged “relocation site of the New Bilibid Prison”. Photo courtesy of Masungi Georeserve

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said that it legally owns the 270-hectare land in Tanay, Rizal that is being disputed by the Masungi Georeserve Foundation.

BuCor Acting Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. said that the land will be used for the bureau’s headquarters, as well as for residential purposes for its personnel. He also mentioned that the land will be used to sustain the bureau’s institutional food requirements.

Catapang’s statement comes after the Masungi Georeserve Foundation appealed to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga to uphold the Masungi Geopark Project and to prevent further violence against environment defenders.

The foundation has raised concerns about BuCor’s plan to use the land for the relocation site of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), as well as the newly minted title for the land that includes the Georeserve.

Catapang maintained that BuCor is the registered owner of the land, and that it has the right to conduct activities on the land, including the ocular inspection conducted by BuCor personnel. He stressed that the land will not be used as a relocation site for the NBP, but rather as a site for the bureau’s headquarters and for the development and implementation of land use development plans and policies.