COA recommends raps vs. erring officials in BuCor-Tadeco land deal

State auditors have recommended the nullification of the joint venture agreement (JVA) land deal between the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and Tagum Agricultural Development Co. Inc. (TADECO) and filing of appropriate charges before the Office of the Ombudsman.

"The December 26, 1969 agreement and May 21, 2003 Joint Venture Agreement (JVA), including all the amendments and supplements, between the BuCor and TADECO were executed, in violation of the 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions," the auditors said.

The 2016 Commission on Audit (COA) report affirms an earlier finding by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the land deal was illegal.

The COA report stated that BuCor is liable for allowing TADECO to use the parcel of land in the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) in Panabo City above the constitutional limit of 1,000 hectares, under Section 3, Article XII of the 1987 Charter.

The December 26, 1969 agreement covers the holding or leasing of 3,000 hectares of agricultural land, while the May 21, 2003 JVA covers the lease of 5,308.36 hectares of the penitentiary for TADECO's banana plantation.

The COA further noted that BuCor and TADECO violated the constitution for entering into a contract that covers a period beyond the 50-year limit (initial 25 years, and extendable for another 25 years).

The Joint Venture Operations Committee (JVOC), a group equally composed of the DPPF officials and its partners representatives that monitors the JVA activities, has insisted the contract being challenged was not a lease contract but a joint venture agreement, and thus cannot be subjected under the constitutional limitation.

State auditors, however, said: "We maintain the unconstitutionality of the December 29, 1969 agreement, together with all its amendments and supplements, as well as the 2003 JVA for having a non-alienable as the object thereof."

The JVA between BuCor and TADECO was first signed in 1969. It was extended for 25 years in 1979, and again for another 25 years on May 21, 2003.

The COA urged the BuCor management to immediately nullify the JVA with TADECO and file appropriate criminal charges against officials involved before the Ombudsman.

"Viewed from the foregoing, we reiterated our recommendation that management take the appropriate action in the proper forum for the declaration of nullity of the 1969 Agreement, together with all its amendment and supplements, as well as the 2003 JVA," it said.

"We also recommended that management initiate the filing of criminal action before the Office of the Ombudsman for the patent violation of laws and the Constitution," it added.

TADECO had earlier maintained that its contract with BuCor is legal and binding.

BuCor, on the other hand, said it lacks the expertise in managing the banana plantation inside the Davao Penal Colony.

A congressional inquiry was earlier conducted by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to investigate the "grossly disadvantageous" agreement. — BAP/KG/MDM, GMA News