A PANEL of state prosecutors has been created by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review the 2003 deal between the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) and Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc. (Tadeco).
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has issued an order assigning six state prosecutors to the fact-finding team, led by Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III, upon the request of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Other members of the panel are Director Maria Charina Buena Dy-Po (vice chairman, technical staff), State Counsel Precious Pojas (legal staff), State Counsel Melvin Suarez (legal staff), State Counsel Noel Adriatico (technical staff) and Catherine Angela Maralit (technical staff).
Alvarez said the May 2003 deal between Bucor and Tadeco should be declared null and void since it was "disadvantageous to the government."
The Joint Venture Agreement signed by Bucor and Tadeco has allowed the latter to plant bananas in the 5,308.36 hectares Davao Penal Colony (Dapecol) in exchange for an annual production share of P26,541,809 plus mandatory increase of 10 percent every five years.
Alvarez explained that the lease of around P5,000 per hectare per year is lower as compared to the lease rates of P25,000 per hectare per year of underdeveloped land in the same area.
The appeal of Alvarez is against Davao Del Norte Represenative Antonio Floirendo Jr., who is one of the stockholders in the banana plantation.
Alvarez has filed graft complaints against Floirendo in the Ombudsman over his alleged links in the largest banana exporter in the country.
Reports said Alvarez's recent attack against Floirendo is in connection with the alleged spat between their live in partners. It was however denied by Alvarez. (VoxPop Philippines)