BuCor says it lacks expertise to manage banana plantation inside Davao Penal Colony

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on Monday said it is not capable of managing the 5,308.36-hectare banana plantation inside the Davao Penal Colony reservation, as the bureau’s deal with Tagum Agricultural Development Co. Inc. (TADECO) is placed under scrutiny.

BuCor Director General Benjamin delos Santos said this in a statement as BuCor awaits the final recommendations of the Department of Justice as well as the House of Representatives, which conducted the inquiry into the 25-year joint venture agreement between BuCor and Tadeco.

Delos Santos admitted that as far as the agency is concerned, “we do no have the capability and expertise to manage the plantation.”

“All of our contingency planning will be subject to the final outcome of the congressional investigation and recommendations of the DoJ,” he said.

There is still 12 years remaining under the joint venture agreement (JVA) of BuCor and TADECO.

First signed in July 1969, the joint venture allowed TADECO to lease from BuCor hectares of land inside the Davao Penal Colony (DPC) for a banana plantation.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier sought a legislative probe into the BuCor-TADECO JVA after a spat with Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio “Tonyboy” Floreindo Jr., whose family owns TADECO.

Alvarez claims the JVA was “grossly disadvantageous” to the government, and asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to scrap the land deal.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has backed the findings of his fact-finding panel that found the land deal between BuCor and TADECO illegal.

He vowed to come up with final recommendations after reviewing the contract, which he said aimed to maximize the government’s resources to generate funds for the social and infrastructure programs of President Rodrigo Duterte. — Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez/RSJ, GMA News