Tadeco-Bucor Joint-Venture Agreement - My take as a layman

The Tadeco -  Bucor Joint Venture Agreement is not just an ordinary agreement. On the outside, it spoke about the development of the Dapecol area by TADECO to be jointly executed by the parties with respect to their roles. But in the innards of realities, it is a restorative justice agreement, not seen in any other penal farms and prisons. The restorative justice that the government wants to push for the rehabilitation, for good, of the convicted offenders, is exemplified in the joint-venture agreement. The area is not just an ordinary tract of land for tilling. It is an area intended forthe rehabilitaion of convicted persons.  The idea that inmates should be exposed to the community to ready them for eventual freedom is not enough as maybe seen by some personalities. It is the restoration of law and order that separates the system being run by Tadeco and Bucor from other prisons in the country. Inmates are given specific jobs in the plantation with target time of completion and amount of work to be done, coupled with the standards of which these jobs are to be performed. They are compensated for these humble works so much so that they can send their children to school for a degree. The inmates covered in the Inmates Farm Training and Exposure Program (IFTEP) are not only allowed to mingle with civilians but are taught how to follow rules and standards as they perform their duties in the banana farm. And these with legal compensation they can be happy of. This is what makes it effective. I can only imagine an ex-convict from Dapecol going back to his family after serving his sentence and looks for an honorable job, be it simple enough for a three meal a day, because he had experience that being a law-abiding, rule-following person is always possible and rewarding. Compare it with somebody coming out of other prison in the country. Do they experience following instructions? Yes, only that they should not get into riots and to eat, sleep and exercise at the perfect time. But following these orders do not come from the heart because there is no greater purpose but to remain alive inside the cells. The restoration of the faith of a convict in life after prison is logically more viable for inmates in Dapecol than in any other prison in the country.

Thus, seeing the JVA as the same as that of the other agreements is shallow. The purpose of the property of Dapecol is for the rehabilitation of the inmates and not just for lease to businessmen. The joint-venture lets the government follow its mandate in restoring these convicted individuals thru the unique set-up with Tadeco. If it was just a common lease where no inmate is allowed to work in the field and the full amount is just given directly to the Bureau of Corrections, what will be the activities geared for the eventual change of the criminals? Will the amount be spent on the inmates to help them to be corrected? I don't think so. And if. indeed, only a few thousand pesos is given to the bureau as lease and profit share, then, by all means, it is Tadeco who is financing the rehabilitation of the inmates. And it is an effective one.

With this things passing through us in this unique time of the country. I hope that this Joint-Venture Agreement be studied in its whole form and substance. It is a true public-private partnership wherein the mandate of a government agency is carried out effectively with the help of a truly nationalistic private company. Tadeco is a 100% Filipino-owned company and it takes pride in providing fair and just treatment to all stakeholders in its arms. No wonder it is the best banana plantation in the world, a mark and achievement molded by ordinary citizens while also giving faith and honor back to jailed criminals and offenders.