HOUSE Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has urged Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre III to immediately declare as null and void the joint venture agreement entered into between a company owned by Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr. and the Bureau of Corrections for being “grossly disadvantageous to the government.”
In a letter dated March 30, 2107, a copy of which was obtained by the Manila Standard, Alvarez said
BuCor had no authority to enter into a contract involving 5,308 hectares of farmland in the Davao Penal Colony with Floirendo-owned Tagum Agricultural Development Corp. (Tadeco) because only agencies categorized as government-owned and controlled corporations have the mandate to do so.
BuCor operates prisons and penal colonies under the auspices of the Department of Justice headed by Aguirre.
At the same time, Alvarez said when the joint venture agreement was renewed on May 21, 2003, Floirendo, who was an incumbent congressman at the time, was one of the major stockholders of Tadeco and its subsidiary Anflo Management and Investment Corp.
“It bears mentioning that [Floirendo] committed a blatant violation of Section 3(h) of Republic Act 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits government officials from having financial interests in government contracts, as provided in the 1987 Constitution,” Alvarez told Aguirre.
Alvarez, who had a falling out with his erstwhile friend and close buddy Floirendo, filed graft charges against him with the Ombudsman. The falling out was traced to the bickering that started with their respective girlfriends.
“I urge your office to perform the necessary actions to immediately remedy the grossly disadvantageous terms and conditions of subject JVA that are highly prejudicial to the Philippine government,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said the JVA was merely a renewal of the old JVA dated Sept. 26, 1979, which allowed Tadeco to lease government property for its banana plantation, and use inmates as its workers, for 25 years from Sept. 26, 2004 until Sept. 26, 2029.
“When the JVA was executed in 2003, there was yet no specific rule or regulation on authorizing BuCor to execute a JVA with a private entity. The proper course of action for BuCor was for it to procure the services of a contractor, pursuant to RA 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act,” Alvarez said.
“The act of renewing the former JVA was purposely done in manifest bad faith to avoid the proper and lawful bidding process,” Alvarez said.
Citing the JVA, Alvarez said BuCor shall receive profit shares and guaranteed annual production shares amounting to P26.54 million, which covers 5,308 hectares of government property.
“However, this is based on low lease rates of around P5,000 per hectare per year as compared to the prevailing lease rates of at least P35,000 per hectare per year of undeveloped land, in the same area. Also, the term of the subject JVA was stipulated for a period of 25 years, or until 2029, contrary to the industry practice of only five to 10 years,” Alvarez said.
“The JVA was entered into without legal basis and authority on the part of BuCor, the terms and conditions of which are grossly disadvantageous to the Philippine government, and is, therefore, void ab initio for being contrary to law and public policy,” Alvarez said.
“In view of the foregoing, the subject JVA was entered into contrary to laws and public policy. This being so, there exist clear grounds for its immediate declarations as null and void,” Alvarez told Aguirre.
Aguirre said Monday he would form a panel to review the deal.
“We received this morning a letter from House Speaker Alvarez asking for a legal opinion on the legal status of the 5,300 hectares of part of the Davao Penal Colony leased to Tadeco. I told the Speaker that I will constitute a team, a panel to study the technical as well as the legal status of this,” Aguirre said,
The Justice secretary said the panel will conduct a fact-finding investigation on the issue and he expects the team to complete the investigation in a short time since the DOJ has already conducted a similar probe during the previous administration.
“I don’t think this will be difficult since there is already an opinion on this rendered during the previous administration, I think in 2014, by then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima,’ Aguirre said, without disclosing what the opinion rendered was.
President Rodrigo Duterte said the row between Alvarez and Floirendo worsened because “their women” became involved.
“Their partners are aggravated that’s why there’s a bad… atmosphere. That’s why their husbands are also fighting,” Duterte said in a media interview at Cagayan de Oro City Sunday.
The falling-out between the two lawmakers was rumored to have started from a spat between their girlfriends, but Alvarez, who is married, denied that this was the reason he filed charges against Floirendo.
Alvarez’s personal life was exposed after he filed a complaint against Floirendo before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Duterte defended Alvarez following his admission that he has a girlfriend, even though he is married—a situation that opens him to a disbarment complaint before the Supreme Court.
Alvarez has been unapologetic, saying that many people had girlfriends.
In the House, Rep. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela said Congress has a lot work to do and should not get caught in a circus following Alvarez’s admission of having a mistress.
Brosas urged Alvarez to give priority to the passage of a proposed law legalizing divorce as a way out of tumultuous marriages.
Gabriela filed for the fifth time a bill seeking to legalize divorce, but strong opposition from the Catholic Church has kept the bills from becoming law.
“We are pushing for the passage of the divorce bill to help families who believe in the sanctity of marriage to allow women in troubled marriages to live a new life,” Brosas said.
Earlier, Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque warned against the disbarment of Alvarez over an extramarital affair, saying the issue could lead to a collision between the Supreme Court and the House of Representatives.
Roque said the Supreme Court had disbarred lawyers for having extra marital relationships outside but this should not be the case for Alvarez, who has admitted having a mistress.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly disbarred lawyers in the past due to immoral conduct. However, it is my opinion that Speaker Alvarez should not be disbarred as this may lead the SC to a confrontation with a co-equal branch of government, which in turn may result in the possible impeachment of some justices. Immoral or not, the Office of the Speaker still commands numbers for impeachment,” Roque said. With John Paolo Bencito