BuCor, Tadeco in talks on production sharing as early as Jan

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Tagum Agricultural Development Co. Inc. (Tadeco) have already started discussions on increased production sharing early this year even before questions about the 25-year joint venture agreement (JVA) cropped up, an official said Wednesday.

“The joint management committee started discussions on increased production sharing and income as early as January,” BuCor Director Benjamin Delos Santos said in a text message to reporters.

Delos Santos’ statement came after the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) fact-finding committee earlier said it found infirmities in some provisions of the BuCor-Tadeco land deal during its review of the JVA. DOJ exercises administrative supervision over BuCor.

He said they are still waiting for the final recommendations of the DOJ.

Based on the joint venture agreement, the government would get a guaranteed payment of P26.542 million annually from Tadeco for using the Davao Penal Colony’s 5,308 hectares of land, or at P5,000 per hectare. The rent is based on the “guaranteed production share” of the BuCor, and the contract has mandated a 10-percent automatic increase every five years.

Delos Santos said in the event that the JVA is struck down, BuCor would have to take over the plantation and secure its premises.

“We have to secure the Tadeco premises to prevent looting,” he said, but nonetheless admitted “we do not have the capability and expertise to manage the plantation.”

The JVA dates back to the Marcos administration when the first joint venture agreement was signed in July 1969 and consolidated into a fresh 25-year contract in September 1979.

A year before its expiry, the contract was renewed on May 1, 2003.