LOCAL GOVERNMENTS of towns around Panabo City have expressed support for the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc. (TADECO), which has recently come under fire after Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, a representative of Davao del Norte province questioned the decades-old deal. Among those that have issued resolutions supporting the JVA are the municipalities of Braulio E. Dujali, Carmen, Island Garden City of Samal, Sto. Tomas, and Asuncion. The host city of the farm use agreement, Panabo, and the Davao Del Norte provincial board have earlier passed similar pronouncements. The Davao Del Norte resolution adopted on June 19 states that the JVA provides livelihood and has an economic impact on the 181,000 residents of the province. In May, the House committee on good government and public accountability along with the committee on justice conducted a joint hearing on House Resolution 867, filed by Mr. Alvarez, questioning the legality of the JVA. The Commission on Audit, the Office of the Solicitor General, and the Department of Justice have declared that the deal violates provisions in the Constitution. — Maya M. Padillo

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