BuCor employees under Tadeco payroll to face raps after House inquiry, Alvarez warns

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Thursday warned that Davao Penal Colony guards who are supposedly part of the payroll of the Tagum Agricultural Development Company (Tadeco) will face charges after the House of Representatives ends its inquiry into the company's land-lease deal with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, Alvarez revealed that there were instances that Tadeco paid employees of the BuCor, whose deal with the company, he said, was "grossly disadvantageous" to the government.

"Kaya nga kapag natapos kami dito sa committee report namin, lahat ng mga BuCor employees na involved diyan, magkakakaso din," he said.

Alvarez said Tadeco has benefitted from the free labor of Davao prison inmates, rebutting the company's claim that the inmates were the ones who gained profit from the deal.

He added that Tadeco should instead hire jobless individuals in Davao instead of taking advantage of the inmates.

The Speaker likewise said Tadeco was paying a very low rent for 5,000 hectares of land, and was not paying for some 4,000 hectares of the BuCor property inside the Davao Penal Colony, which the company uses as a banana plantation.

"Ngayon, aside from that (5,000 hectares) po, ngayon lumalabas yung may nagtestigo noong hearing na surveyor. Ang sabi niya, kapag sinurbey daw iyan, hindi lang daw 5,000 hectares ang inuupahan (o) ang ginagamit nila na lupa ng gobyerno, kundi mayroong excess na 4,000 na hindi nila binabayaran,” he said.

Nevertheless, Alvarez remained confident that the government would recover what Tadeco owes it.

"Makakabawi po ang gobyerno diyan, kasi alam niyo may political will yung ating gobyerno ngayon, hindi ba? Yung mga ganyan, ang nawawala po sa gobyerno bilyon-bilyon,” he said.

He likewise maintained that Tadeco should pay a fair rent, as rental in the area should be in the P150,000 to P200,000 per hectare range annually.

Alvarez has earlier filed a graft complaint against Davao del Norte Representative Antonio Floirendo for supposedly having financial interest in the deal.

The Sandiganbayan on Wednesday issued a warrant of arrest against Floirendo in relation to the case.

In his complaint, Alvarez maintained that Floirendo, being a congressman while sitting in the Tadeco board in 2003, violated the prohibition against lawmakers getting involved in government contracts.

"Hindi siya nag-divest. Malinaw po ang violation noon," Alvarez said. — Erwin Colcol/MDM, GMA News