HOUSE Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez during the opening probe on the agreement entered into by the Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc. (Tadeco) and the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) maintained his position that the deal is "disadvantageous" to the government.
During Tuesday's joint inquiry by the House committees on justice and good government and public accountability, Alvarez, backed by the legal opinions of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Solicitor General Jose Calida, assailed the defense of Tadeco.
Alvarez, who filed the House resolution to initiate the probe, said the deal cannot be considered a joint venture agreement (JVA), but instead should be classified as a "rental or lease deal."
"It's clear it's not a [joint venture agreement], it's a rental deal," Alvarez said.
"Alam naman natin na malinaw sa Saligang Batas na hindi pwede mag lease ng [public] land more than 1,000 hectares. So ito mahigit limang libong hektarya ito. So to justify siguro, para to make it appear na hindi na sya straight lease, ginawa nilang joint venture agreement," he said.
The land being utilized by Tadeco as a banana plantation is owned by the Davao Penal Colony (Dapecol), which according to Aguirre is "an inalienable land of public domain" therefore it cannot be subject to a lease agreement.
To their defense, Tadeco president Alex Viloria said their company's deal with the Bucor was indeed a JVA, and that the deal has been "successful."
Since inking the consolidated JVA in 1979, Viloria said the deal has been reviewed many times over by several administrations.
The JVA renewed in 2003 has allowed Tadeco to extend the use of more than 5,000 hectares of Dapecol land for another 25 years.
The main objective of the deal, said Viloria, is the rehabilitation of 800 inmates enrolled in their program that allows them to work in the banana plantation.
For his part, Davao del Norte representative Antonio "Tonyboy" Floirendo, whose family owns Tadeco, said he welcomes the investigation.
"[The probe] will be a good opportunity for me and the company to correct all baseless and misplaced accusations levelled against it...Rest assured that I will support all other undertakings that your committee will initiate except activities that in any manner related to, or connected with, my family's financial or business interest," Floirendo said.
After the hearing, Alvarez said that his move to investigate Tadeco should not be interpreted as a vengeance against Floirendo after they had a falling out due to the conflict of their girlfriends.
"Paghiwalayin natin ano? Let us judge the facts as it is; 'wag nating haluan ng rekado. Totoo ba na nalugi ang gobyerno dito? Totoo ba na yung kontrata highly disadvantageous to government? Yun ang dapat nating tingnan," he said.
Alvarez also has a pending graft complaint against Floirendo filed before the Office of the Ombudsman for his alleged ownership of Tadeco shares despite holding public office. (VoxPop Philippines)