Senate to probe another DA anomaly

The Senate will investigate another alleged anomaly in the Department of Agriculture (DA), this time the use of P55.7 million allocated for the Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program (HRCP) in 2004.

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, has filed a resolution calling for the inquiry into the HRCP and the alleged mismanagement of its funds.

The resolution came after the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed during budget hearings at the Senate that the HRCP could not properly account for more than P55.7 million as of December 2004. The COA also said the program’s financial reports have not adequately accounted for the P945 million in hybrid funds for 2004.

Magsaysay said there is an urgent need to look into the unexplained disbursement of HRCP funds because the government has allocated an increased budget for the program.

In 2005, the HRCP budget was P780 million. This budget would be increased to P1.02 billion this year and P2.5-billion in 2007.

The HRCP was designed to provide government subsidies for the purchase of hybrid seeds for distribution to local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations and people’s organizations (NGOs and POs).

The program and its funds were managed and implemented by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), which was moved from the agriculture department to the Office of the President and which reverted to the DA in 2005.

In calling for the Senate inquiry in aid of legislation, Magsaysay said there is a need to "properly account for the program, and (that) its overall effect on the agriculture sector be fully comprehensive." — Christina Mendez