More LGUs support Tadeco-BuCor deal
MORE towns in Davao del Norte have expressed support to the joint venture agreement (JVA) between the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc. (Tadeco), now under congressional inquiry initiated by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who represents the province's first congressional district.
Alvarez has questioned the legality of the agreement and wanted it to be declared null and void for supposedly being disadvantageous to the government. On the contrary, the Tadeco-BuCor deal has been smoothly implemented for decades now, providing socio-economic benefits to communities covered by the deal.
But Alvarez appeared to have failed to get support from local government units that even a firstclass municipality under his district has joined the support movement for the Tadeco-BuCor deal.
These LGUs issued their statements of support following the move by Alvarez. At least two hearings had already been conducted by the House committee on good government and public accountability on the issue during the first regular session of the Congress.
In giving support to the agreement, these LGUs are one in acknowledging the valuable contributions of the BuCor-Tadeco deal in invigorating their respective economy by creating jobs and providing social services to fulfill the agreement's primary goal of rehabilitating inmates at the Davao Penal Colony.
The town of Asuncion, a first-class municipality under Alvarez's district, is the latest to have expressed support to the Tadeco-BuCor deal.
Resolution 2017-148, adopted by its Sangguniang
Bayan last July 11, said that it was "earnestly supporting the agreement because the deal not only contributes to Davao's economy but also generates employment to thousands of workers, more particularly in the neighboring localities including Asuncion."
The resolution also points out that besides providing jobs to inmates, Tadeco's banana operations also created some 30,000 jobs and "secured the livelhood and future of at least 181,000 residents".
It cited the significance of Tadeco's operations to the lives of Dabawenyos was the reason Davao del Norte Governor Antonio Rafael del Rosario has enjoined all LGUs in the province to support the BuCor-Tadeco agreement.
Meanwhile, a separate resolution sponsored by the majority of the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Davao Del Norte, and unanimously adopted on June 19, stated the provincial legislature's support for the JVA and cited the relevance of Tadeco "to the lives of the 181,000 residents of the province" who are dependent on the company's business operations.
The resolution was issued with the support of Del Rosario and was adopted with Vice Governor Alan Dujali presiding over the Sanggunian proceedings.
"The JVA rehabilitation program brought pride to the Province of Davao del Norte because its success is well known in the entire Philippine Penal System and as a matter of fact, BuCor wanted it replicated in its Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan," Resolution 364 of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan read.
The resolution likewise stated that in 2016 alone, Tadeco paid BuCor a total of 142,719,662.00 which equates to P26,900 per hectare and the former also paid approximately P438,000,000.00 in taxes and fees to the Philippine government.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan, which decided to adopt a resolution of support for the BuCor-Tadeco deal after receiving the position papers of both Tadeco and the Office of the Speaker, also called on the LGUs in District I "to give their support to the JVA due to its social and economic benefit to the entire Province for so many years".
All the LGUs in the second district comprising Panabo City and the municipalities of Braulio E. Dujali, Carmen, the Island Garden City of Samal and Sto. Tomas have already issued their separate resolutions of support for the Tadeco-BuCor agreement.