More Davao del Norte execs back Tadeco
Local officials of Davao del Norte province have appealed to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to let a company owned by Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo Jr.’s family continue leasing a vast penal farm which had been turned into a banana plantation.
In separate resolutions, five town and city councils of the province told Aguirre that Tagum Agricultural Development Co. (Tadeco) had provided a stable source of income to their residents since it entered into a land deal with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in 1969.
They said the joint venture agreement (JVA) between the BuCor and Tadeco for the use of 5,300 hectares of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) had also spurred economic development in the entire Davao region.
Once barren
“Some parts of this town were once barren while other lands were uninhabited. With Tadeco developing and eventually turning them into productive spots where exportable bananas are grown, people started to flock [to our town],” read a resolution passed by the municipal council of Braulio Dujali, a fourth class agricultural town.
“[Tadeco] helped develop, construct and maintain road networks, drainage and protection dikes by providing heavy equipment and operator, which helped mitigate the flood problem of the locality,” it added.
The 13-member council of Panabo City approved a similar resolution, which also cited the importance of the agreement in the success of BuCor’s rehabilitation program for convicts serving time at DPPF.
More resolutions
“Inmates had job opportunities that helped them realize their goals and made their lives useful to their families and community while [they are] being imprisoned,” the city council said.
The town and village councils in the municipalities of Carmen, Samal and Sto. Tomas likewise issued their respective resolutions expressing support for the JVA, whose legality was questioned by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a representative of the province’s first congressional district.
They all noted that the lease contract had been previously reviewed and approved by past secretaries of justice, among them former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. and Sen. Franklin Drilon.
Most trusted
Alvarez, one of President Duterte’s most trusted political lieutenants, had asked the government to nullify the lease contract after he had a falling out with Floirendo, Mr. Duterte’s biggest campaign contributor in the May 2016 elections.
The Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General both granted the Speaker’s request as they concluded that the arrangement between Tadeco and the BuCor was unconstitutional.
