Pantaleon Alvarez and Antonio Floirendo Jr.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Thursday told Rep. Antonio Floirendo to not divert the conversation from the real issue of the graft complaint following the latter鈥檚 statement on their personal relationship matters.
Floirendo earlier said that if his quarrel with Alvarez stemmed from a personal matter between them, he would like to appeal to the Speaker to meet with him personally to settle the matter 鈥渓ike gentlemen.鈥�
鈥淎lam mo, kung pagkakaibigan lang ang pag-uusapan, over a cup of coffee sandali lang 鈥榶an. Pero ang sinasabi ko, huwag nating ilihis ang usapin,鈥� Alvarez said in an interview with DZMM.
(You know, if it鈥檚 about friendship we鈥檙e talking about, it could quickly be done over a cup of coffee. But what I鈥檓 saying is, let鈥檚 not divert from the issue.)
鈥淏alik tayo sa kontrata ng Tadeco at ng BuCor kasi nandun 鈥榶ung problema ng bayan, ninanakawan 鈥榶ung bayan ng bilyon-bilyon bawat taon. 鈥榊un ay kailangan nating ayusin bilang mga opisyal ng gobyerno na pinagkatiwalaaan ng taumbayan, inihalal, at dapat po maging tapat tayo sa tungkulin natin,鈥� he added.
(Let鈥檚 go back to the contract of TADECO and BuCor because it鈥檚 there where the country鈥檚 problem lies, billions are being stolen from the country every year. That鈥檚 what we need to fix as government officials who are trusted by the people, voted by them, and we need to be truthful in our obligations.)
In his complaint affidavit, Alvarez accused Floirendo of violating Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which penalizes public officials 鈥渄irectly 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.鈥�
Alvarez said Floirendo was a Davao Del Norte representative when his banana firm Tagum Agricultural Development Inc. (Tadeco) renewed its joint venture agreement (JVA) with the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in the lease of 5,308.36 hectares of land at the Davao Penal Colony for a banana plantation.
Alvarez said this was a clear case of conflict of interest because the Constitution prohibits members of Congress from entering into contracts with government.
搁贰础顿:听Alvarez seeks probe of fellow Duterte ally Floirendo听
鈥溾�橸ung ibang bagay, saka natin pag-usapan鈥ag-usapan natin sa parlor, sasagutin ko 鈥榶an doon pero dito, tingnan natin yung kontrata, talo ba yung gobyerno o hindi? Meron bang iregularidad sa kontrata na 鈥榯o o wala? Magkano ang nananakaw sa gobyerno? 鈥榊un ang kailangan nating tingnan dito,鈥� Alvarez said.
(The other things, we can talk about that later鈥� talk about it in the parlor, I鈥檒l answer it there but here, let鈥檚 look at the contract, is the government losing or not? Are there irregularities in the contract or not? How much was stolen from the government? That鈥檚 what we need to look at here.)
Alvarez said that Floirendo is a friend but it doesn鈥檛 give the latter a license to steal from the public and won鈥檛 stop him from confronting and interfering on the matter.
If they were to talk, Alvarez said that he would like the talk to be in public for transparency.
鈥淗indi naman kailangan na mag-usap, magpaliwanag鈥� Huwag sa akin, dahil wala naman akong interes sa kontrata na 鈥榶an. Dapat magpaliwanag sa taumbayan dahil ang taumbayan ang areglado sa kontrata na 鈥榶an at hindi ako,鈥� the Speaker said.
(There鈥檚 no need to talk and explain鈥� Not to me because I don鈥檛 have any interest in the contract. He needs to explain to the public.)
鈥淎ko ay nilabas ko lang 鈥榶ung kontrata na 鈥榶an at para makita ng sambayanan kung paano inaagrabyado ang gobyerno,鈥� he added.
(I just exposed the contract so that everyone can see how the government is being taken advantage of.)
When asked why he only filed a case now, Alvarez said that he only got the copy of the said contract after writing to Department of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre two months ago.
He said that Congress before tried to investigate the issue, but were not able to bring out a copy of the contract.
鈥溾�橸ung kontrata na 鈥榶an, matagal ko na pong itinago 鈥榶an. Kahit po noong nakaraang Congress, sumubok po silang imbestigahan 鈥榶an ngunit hindi nila nailabas 鈥榶ung kontratang 鈥榶an. Ngayon lang po, sa ilalim ng administrasyon ng ating Pangulo kung saan transparent ang leadership kaya tayo nakakuha ng kontrata鈥opya ng kontrata,鈥� he said.
(That contract was hidden for a long time. Even in the last Congress, they tried to investigate it but they didn鈥檛 reveal that contract. Just now, in the administration of our President where leadership is transparent, we just got a copy of the contract.) JE/rga