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Davao Prison and Penal Farm, formerly the Davao Penal Colony (DaPeCol), was established on January 21, 1932 in
On October 7, 1931, Governor Dwight Davis signed proclamation 414 which reserved a site for Penal Colony in Davao Province in
Panabo City
Panabo, officially the City of Panabo ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Panabo; fil, Lungsod ng Panabo), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Davao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 209,230 people.
Panab ...
, Davao del Norte
Davao del Norte ( ceb, Amihanang Dabaw; tl, Hilagang Davao), officially the Province of Davao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital and largest city is Tagum. The province also includes ...
, Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. It has a land area of 30,000 hectares with a prison reservation of 8,000 hectares. During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Davao Penal Colony was the biggest prison establishment in the country which was used by the Japanese invading army as their imperial garrison.
History
On October 7, 1931, Governor Dwight Davis signed proclamation 414 which reserved a site for Penal Colony in Davao Province in Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
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.
American POW camp
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 theBataan Death March
The Bataan Death March (Filipino: ''Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan''; Spanish: ''Marcha de la muerte de Bataán'' ; Kapampangan: ''Martsa ning Kematayan quing Bataan''; Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: ''Batān Shi no Kōshin'') was ...
, escaped in Spring 1943. When the twelve men escaped, later joining Wendell Fertig
Wendell Fertig (December 16, 1900 – March 24, 1975)Brooks 2003, p. 37. was an American civil engineer, in the American-administered Commonwealth of the Philippines, who organized and commanded an American-Filipino guerrilla force on the Jap ...
's guerrillas, the Japanese beheaded twenty-five prisoners. Major Stephen Mellnik, of Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
's South West Pacific Area (command)
South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the D ...
, 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.Keats, J., 1963, They Fought Alone, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott CompanyChildress, 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
See also
* 1989 Davao hostage crisis * William Dyess *Jack Hawkins
John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mili ...
* Samuel Grashio
Samuel Charles Grashio (April 1, 1918 – October 3, 1999) was a United States Army Air Forces pilot who was captured by the Japanese in World War II. He survived the Bataan Death March and participated in the only successful mass escape from a J ...
* Austin Shofner
Brigadier General Austin Conner Shofner (March 3, 1916 – November 13, 1999) was a United States Marine Corps officer who was captured during the Battle of Corregidor and then part of the only successful escape from a Japanese prisoner of war c ...
References
{{Corrections in the Philippines Japanese prisoner of war and internment camps Buildings and structures in Davao del Norte Prisons in the Philippines