WHILE Congress is conducting its inquiry on the legality of the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) and the Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc. (Tadeco), local government units covered by the deal are bent to oppose any move for its cancellation.
Who wouldnt when such agreement has given so much benefits, especially in terms of revebnues that go directly to the coffers of these LGUs.
In fact, even Bucor earned a total of P142.72 million in 2016, representing a 45 percent share under the deal without spending a single centavo.
Tadeco president and chief executive officer Alex Valoria is persistent.
He had informed the congressional committees investigating the Bucor-Tadeco deal that the corrections bureau was guaranteed a production share, which is a fixed amount under the agreement, as well as a portion of the profits from the bananas exported by the company. Both of these guaranteed earnings are reviewed and increased by 10 percent every five years.
The House of Representatives' Committees on Good Government and Public Accountability and on Justice are conducting a joint probe on the BuCor-Tadeco deal.
On top of these benefits, Tadeco is also paying BuCor for the farm training program and the stipend support of the inmates inside the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF), as part of the rehabilitation aspect of the JVA.
"We have likewise made our position also clear. We are on solid constitutional grounds. Through the years, the JVA was proven to be undoubtedly advantageous to the government and Bucor,” Valoria said at today’s hearing in response to the comments made by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez against the agreement.
Several local government units and organizations in Davao del Norte where Tadeco is based have also cited the benefits that the economy and its people receive from the JVA.
These LGUs insist the agreement has been a key factor in creating jobs and revving up the economies of their respective communities as the agreement involves the development of a banana plantation inside the penal colony with the primary goal of rehabilitating inmates housed inside the prison compound.
The legislative bodies of Panabo City, and of the municipalities of Carmen, Sto. Tomas, and Dujali were among the LGUs that have cited the countless economic and social benefits that the JVA has brought to their respective localities.
Last May 29, the City Council of Panabo passed a resolution “earnestly supporting JVA, which it said has a "vast contribution to the economy of the neighboring cities and municipalities in Davao Region."
In its resolution, the council said the agreement "had [been] reviewed and approved by no less than six Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretaries. It has also passed through 14 Secretaries of Justice who upheld its validity."
The resolution pointed out that "inmates had job opportunities provided by the said JVA that helped them realize their goals and made their lives more useful to their families and the community."
Mayor Virginia Perandos of Carmen town also pointed out that "Tadeco has been playing a vital role in the development of the entire province of Davao del Norte in general, and brought quality standard of living for the people with its employment opportunities, including many of the Bucor inmates."
A resolution unanimously adopted by the Provincial Board of Carmen on May 23 expressed its support to the JVA, saying the "presence of banana companies including Tadeco boost the economic activity not only of the municipality of Carmen, but throughout the Davao Region."
The resolution likewise noted that Tadeco and the other banana-producing farms in Davao help transform Carmen into a first-class municipality in the province.
The Liga ng mga Barangay of Carmen has also adopted a separate resolution backing the Bucor-Tadeco JVA, citing that "50 percent of our labor force are working [in companies like Tadeco, Dole Philippines and other agro-industrial establishments in the locality and other neighboring cities and municipalities."
The Provincial Board of Braulio Dujali pointed out in its approved resolution dated May 25 that besides creating jobs, providing revenues for the municipality, and constructing roads and other infrastructure, Tadeco has also regularly conducted medical outreach programs for the town's "poor communities through the Antonio O. Floirendo Foundation and helped the town realize its electrification program which benefited a good number of households and even those located in the outskirts of this town."
The Provincial Board of Sto. Tomas said in a separate resolution adopted on May 22 that it is backing the Bucor-Tadeco accord "so as not to displace the thousand workers and its contribution to the economic development of the communities and country."
Its resolution likewise stated that Tadeco “contributed to the development of the economy in Mindanao through its huge plantation of Cavendish banana that provided employment to thousands of workers, more particularly from the Municipality of Sto. Tomas and other adjacent municipalities and cities within the Province of Davao del Norte."
The Liga ng Mga Barangay of the Island Garden City of Samal noted in its May 10 resolution that the JVA provides employment to hundreds of workers in all of the 46 barangays within the city.