Speaker files graft case vs Floirendo

MANILA, Philippines - House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez filed last week a graft complaint against Davao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr., the biggest financier of President Duterte’s presidential bid, for allegedly having questionable business interests in a banana plantation doing business with the government.

In his complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman, Alvarez said the Tagum Agricultural Development Co. Inc. (Tadeco) entered into a joint venture agreement (JVA) with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in 1969 which allowed the firm to lease 3,000 hectares of land in the Davao Penal Colony for a banana plantation.

Tadeco is the world’s largest contiguous banana plantation. It is engaged in the production and export of Cavendish bananas to Japan, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Middle East, Russia, Malaysia and Singapore under the Del Monte and Dole brands.

From its inception, Tadeco has been wholly owned by Floirendo and his family, Alvarez said.

Floirendo’s family created satellite companies for the banana plantation until owners decided to establish a single company, the Anflo Management and Investment Corp. (Anflocor), in 1977 to which Tadeco became a subsidiary.

The lease agreement was last renewed in 2003 for another 25 years for a lease amount of P25.6 million annually, which would increase by 10 percent every five years, apart from profit shares that would be received by the government.

Alvarez said that when the JVA was renewed in 2003, Floirendo was elected as lawmaker and even though he ceased being a board member, Floirendo allegedly still owned 75,000 shares of stock and even became vice chairman of Tadeco in 2008.

“Based on all available data from the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1997 to 2015, respondent not only owned substantial shares of stock in Anflocor but he was always a member of the latter’s board,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez also claimed that when the lease deal was renewed in 2003, Floirendo “had a clear financial and pecuniary interest in the JVA,” which not only violates Republic Act 3019 but also Section VI of the Constitution for which he should be held liable.”

Section 3(h) of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act prohibits government officials from “directly or indirectly having financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity, or in which he is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) also ordered a review of the 25-year lease contract between Tadeco and BuCor that will lapse 12 years from now, following complaints that the firm’s annual payments were only a fraction of the current market rate.

Floirendo: Tadeco contract aboveboard

Responding to the allegations, Floirendo said the JVA between Tadeco and BuCor is aboveboard and open for public scrutiny.

“We are not hiding anything. Everything is aboveboard. The records will bear it all out. Anybody can look at it,” he said.

When asked if he has any quarrel with Alvarez, Floirendo said, “I do not know and I do not have any quarrel with him.”

Tadeco president Alex Valoria maintained that Floirendo no longer had any participation in the negotiations entered into by Tadeco.

He said company documents show Floirendo resigned from his position in 1999 when he became a member of Congress.

The company also maintained that the arrangement between the firm and BuCor is not a lease arrangement but a joint venture aimed at the rehabilitation of the inmates in Davao Penal Colony.

“We take exception to the statement of Alvarez which looks into its joint venture agreement with BuCor, that the same is grossly disadvantageous to the government, which is entirely false,” Tadeco said in a statement.

“We continue to perform our obligations and responsibilities under the JVA, confident in its contributions to the government and socioeconomic development. We are befuddled as to the real reasons why Speaker Alvarez has initiated this inquiry.

“The rehabilitation program has been found to be very successful by BuCor up to the extent that the latter has even requested Tadeco to replicate the JVA program to its penal colony in Iwahig, Palawan,” the company added.

Tadeco also denied the allegation of ill-treatment of workers in the plantation.

“Such allegation is completely baseless. Tadeco takes good care of its workers. This is evident in the high production yield, indicating that the workers are well motivated and very productive,” it said.

Last year, the guaranteed production share of the government reached P35.3 million, while profit share went up to P9.5 million. – With Louise Maureen Simeon, Edith Regalado