Congressional Inquiry
Was the investigation fair? Was it really in aid of legislation?
Alvarez was talking about a business agreement where an entity may be created which will take care of the business when in fact it is a rehabilitation agreement where the common interest is the rehabilitation of inmates. Tadeco, while engaging in the banana business, trains the inmates on the banana plantation in the land provided by BuCor. It is such a unique agreement that is so effective in weeding out corruption (stipends to inmates are directly given to them and not thru any other method which can be corrupted) while effectively restoring the lives of inmates back into law-abiding citizens.
Questions such as what's the difference between a partnership and agreement are very lousy, tasteless even.
Another lawmaker asking about net income and a line of thinking that any accountant will cringe. Whew!
A Secretary of Justice sensing that the case cannot be won by the proponents anywhere in the Philippines proposes an authoritarian ruling by the president to revoke the agreement thinking that the president is just somebody who has no heart for the masses. He could have known that Digong has a soft heart for the workers especially people who are peacefully living and earning decent wages for their families, including the inmates who are being transformed back into law-abiding citizens.
The agreement to rehabilitate the national inmates in DPPF by having them work for a stipend, follow simple rules and standards, by all means is the mandate of the Bureau of Corrections. Lands of the bureau shall be used for this purpose with or without profit. This is the essence of the government, it is for the people. The government is not in the business of raking in high profits. PRRD allowed the Kadamay group to occupy the housing units intended for the soldiers at the expense of the government. Is PRRD now engaged in making a ruling that is hugely disadvantageous to the government since the Kadamay group can never pay its rentals or whatever?
Come on Speaker Alvarez, SolGen Calida, SOJ Aguirre and those who reviewed the agreement, do you really think that the previous 6 DOJ secretaries who had approved versions of the agreement and the 14 secretaries who upheld its validity are just hallucinating? Or you have just gone transformation that you see this public-private partnership as bad, really, really bad that you simply neglect your duty to protect the interests of the citizens of the republic.
So, was the investigation fair? Was it really on aid of legislation? Are there not any other motive aside from toppling an industry leader? My answer is No, No and Yes.
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