Floirendo a no-show at House probe on Tadeco
Pantaleon Alvarez and Antonio Floirendo Jr.
DAVAO CITY—Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr. shrugged off his ouster from the Commission on Appointments (CA), avoiding a confrontation with his estranged bosom buddy Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Floirendo also skipped a congressional probe of his Tagum Agricultural Development Company (Tadeco), which Alvarez called out over its 14-year-old joint venture with the government.
Conceding that his appointment to the powerful CA has always been “at the behest of the Lower House leadership,” Floirendo said the position did not really affect his duties as a lawmaker.
“If the House leadership deems me as no longer needed in the CA post, so be it,” Floirendo said, not even mentioning Alvarez.
Alvarez had earlier confirmed the falling out which was apparently connected to a quarrel between the Speaker’s and Floirendo’s girlfriends.
“I owe my position to the people of the second district of Davao del Norte, period.”
“That is my utmost priority over anything else. I will continue to serve my constituents and I don’t seek any higher position as I have always been reminded by my father to take care of the very people who helped us be where we are now,” Floirendo said.
Floirendo supported Alvarez’s congressional bid for Davao del Norte’s first district last year.
But he stressed that the loss of the CA post did not diminish his support for President Duterte, whom he also supported last year.
“Positions may come and go but my brotherly love for Digong remains forever. He is family. And family sticks together till the end,” Floirendo said.
But Alvarez, who sought the House probe on Tadeco, sharpened his attack on the banana firm over its joint venture agreement with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) over the Davao Penal Farm.
The agreement allowed Tadeco to rent 5,308 hectares of the jail facility for 25 years.
Tadeco and BuCor first entered into a 25-year contract in 1979 and extended it for another 25 years when it expired in 2003.
