Tadeco welcomes DOJ probe

Tagum Agricultural Development Company (Tadeco) welcomes the investigation ordered by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) entered into by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the company in 2003.

In a statement, Tadeco said the probe “will give us the opportunity to confront once again all the malicious, baseless and false accusations hurled against TADECO.”

“We are confident that we will be able to show that the contract is above-board and entered into by the parties in accordance with law,” read the statement.

TADECO further pointed out that the investigation will show that the JVA is instrumental in the fulfilment of BuCor’s principal mandate which is the rehabilitation of prisoners.

Earlier, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said he will create a team to conduct a fact-finding probe.

Aguirre ordered the investigation in response to the letter of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez asking for a legal opinion on the legal status of the 5,300 hectares of portion of the Davao Penal Colony (now Davao Prison and Penal Farm) leased to Tadeco.

Alvarez earlier filed a graft complaint against Floirendo before the Ombudsman accusing the latter of having an “unlawful business interest” while serving as an elected official.

He said that when the agreement between the BuCor and Tadeco was renewed in 2003 extending the agreement for another 25 years, Floirendo was serving his second term as Davao del Norte

The original contract between the BuCor and Tadeco to utilize parts of the penal colony into a banana plantation was inked in 1969.