Alvarez: BuCor-Tadeco deal a lopsided lease, not joint venture

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Tuesday said the allegedly anomalous deal between the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Tagum Agricultural Development Corporation, Inc. (Tadeco) was not a joint venture agreement (JVA) but a lease that may be going against the law.

Alvarez said the company may have called the contract a JVA to “justify that there was no bidding” for it.

He also noted that under the Constitution, lease of government land cannot go beyond 1,000 hectares.

“Ito mahigit 5,000 ektarya ito. So to justify siguro, para lang to make it appear na hindi nga siya straight lease, ginagawa nilang joint venture agreement. Pero malinaw naman na ‘yung P5,000 na ibinibigay sa gobyerno, ‘yun ay rental at ‘yung share ng government na mahigit piso ay ‘yun ‘yung kunwari, in addition to the rental,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the joint hearing on the said deal that is conducted by the Committees on Justice and Good Government.

Alvarez filed the House resolution that prompted the said inquiry, where he quizzed Tadeco president and CEO Alex Viloria.

Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo Jr., whose family owns Tadeco, decided to recuse himself from the said probe. The lawmaker is facing a separate graft complaint, also filed by Alvarez, over his involvement in the company.

Viloria said that under the said agreement, Tadeco is using 5,308.36 gross hectares of the land owned by the Davao Penal Colony, which is now known as the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF). Of this, 4,500 hectares is the net planted area, while the rest are used for “industrial packing operations.”

He acknowledged that Tadeco also had a “commercial objective” in the said deal, but countered Alvarez’ earlier claim that the JVA was grossly disadvantageous to the government.

“Last year, 2016, Tadeco actually paid the BuCor a total of P142,719,622. This is in the records of the BuCor and equates to P26,900 per hectare. Thus, the allegation of the Speaker that the government is prejudiced is totally incorrect,” he said.

He also said the contract “cannot be a leased” repeatedly noting that the joint deal had a “common goal,” that is, for the “rehabilitation and reformation of inmates” at the DPPF.

"The company has some 800 of them enrolled in the said program,” he added.

“The more important aspect is its core purpose of the rehabilitation of the inmates which has been a proven success. The benefits to thousands of ex-inmates, their spouses and children, and finally to the communities they eventually settled into are immeasurable,” he said in his opening statement.

Alvarez, however, raised his doubts about this.

“You’re just using that reason to justify a joint venture agreement. Am I correct? Be honest. ‘Wag mo na kaming bolahin, sabihin mo ‘yung totoo,” he told Viloria.

“The primary objective is for profit. I think that is clear, because the purpose, naturally, of any company, is for profit,” he added.

After questions on the price of their product, and the definition of the JVA, the Speaker eventually said: “I think it’s clear that it’s not really a joint venture agreement. It’s a rental.”

When Viloria said it was not, Alvarez added: "Wag na tayong maglokohan, ikaw naman. Magagalit ‘yung mga congressman dito, niloloko mo."

The Tadeco executive responded: “We come here in all honesty and all sincerity. There is a rehabilitation component in this joint venture agreement and that is the reason why this is a joint venture agreement.”

In an interview after his appearance at the hearing, Alvarez said he wasn’t buying this reason.

“Alam mo, kaya nga kanina nilinaw ko na ano ba ang primary purpose ng Tadeco, ‘di ho ba for profit? Inamin naman nila for profit talaga,” he said.

“Kasi wala namang g—ong korporasyon… because they are not engaged into rehabilitation of prisoners. In fact, ‘yung primary purpose of the corporation is not to rehabilitate prisoners, but really for commercial purposes, and that is for profit,” he added.

Alvarez said the committees are set to hold another hearing later this month. — BAP, GMA News