‘Government to earn more from Tadeco deal’
MANILA, Philippines - The government will earn more from the joint venture agreement with Tagum Agricultural Development Co. Inc. (Tadeco), Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director Benjamin delos Santos said yesterday.
Delos Santos said the government is assured of P26.542 million a year for the lease of 5,308 hectares of the Davao penal colony based on the “guaranteed production share” of BuCor under the agreement.
Last year, the government earned P142.72 million from the deal, representing its 45 percent share.
Alex Valoria, Tadeco president and chief executive officer, said they paid P438.179 million in taxes and fees in 2016 as well as P2.8 billion in wages, bene-fits and incentives to 12,000 employees, including 1,000 inmates at the Davao penal colony.
The BuCor awaits the recommendations of the Department of Justice and the House of Representatives, which conducted parallel probes into allegations that the deal was disadvantageous to the government.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II earlier said the contract was illegal because it exceeded the 1,000-hectare and 50-year time limits under the Constitution.
The deal was signed in 1969 and consolidated into a 25-year contract in September 1979. It was renewed for another 25 years on May 1, 2003.
The family of Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr. owns Tadeco, the country’s largest banana producer and exporter.
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