‘Fertilizer funds used in GMA program overpriced by P127 million’

House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said yesterday that the Senate should stop its fertilizer fund scam inquiry, which is now dragging in the names of several congressmen who received fertilizer money.

Government auditors, however, confirmed that the fertilizer used in the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program was overpriced by at least P127 million.

The Commission on Audit (COA) confirmed that the overpricing was noted specifically in the P97-million fund for the purchase of fertilizers from suppliers and the P160-million budget allocated for non-government organizations and people’s organizations.

Citing a summary of the audit observation memorandum, COA auditor Flerida Jimenez said there was an overprice of P48.67 million from the purchases made from the P97-million fertilizer fund and P79.674 million from the P160-million NGO fund.

Jimenez told the Senate committees on food and agriculture that P643 million of the P728-million fund allotted to the GMA project now being investigated by the Senate were allocated to the regional field units of the Department of Agriculture.

The opposition has accused the Arroyo administration of having diverted the fertilizer funds to ensure the victory of President Arroyo in the May 2004 elections.

"The overprice is mind-boggling. It shows a total disregard for decency and morality. It is simply immoral apart from being illegal… insofar as overpricing is concerned. Kawawa dito ang magsasaka na naghihintay ng abono (The losers here are the farmers waiting for fertilizers)," Senate President Franklin Drilon said.

Nograles, however, defended administration congressmen whose names were dragged into the controversy.

"The Senate should observe basic inter-parliamentary courtesy. We have co-equal status with them. It is unfortunate that they have now become a venue to smear administration congressmen," he said.

Nograles is one of more than 100 House members, 53 governors and 26 town mayors who received between P3 million and P10 million each in fertilizer funds from the DA shortly before the May 2004 elections. So far, his name has not come up in the Senate probe.

Malacañang, upon the request of controversial former DA undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante, made available to the agriculture department a total of P2.8 billion, including P544 million that came from sequestered Marcos family assets which, under the law, should be used for agrarian reform. The funds were released between February and April last year.

Delfin Aguilar, COA director for the Visayas, cited glaring inconsistencies in the bidders’ forms, purchase documents and other necessary paperwork scrutinized in the procurement of farm inputs in Iloilo.

In Guimamaylan City, some portions of Iloilo and Capiz, Aguilar said no liquidation reports were submitted by local officials. There were even cases when procurement procedures were not followed as prescribed by law.

At yesterday’s hearing, Rebecca Aquino, board member of the province of Sorsogon, corroborated the testimony of another witness, Jose Barredo, that there was indeed overpricing and anomalies in the distribution of fertilizers.

The DA, she said, has allocated P5 million for the acquisition of agricultural supplies in the province intended for farmer beneficiaries. However, the purchase of 133 liters of Bio Nature Liquid Fertilizer at P1,500 per liter was obviously overpriced, citing a COA report that the brand was being sold on the market at the time of the purchase for only P180 to P350 per liter.

Bio Nature Liquid Fertilizer, Aquino said, is not even an appropriate product for rice and corn, the principal crops in the Bicol region.

Government auditors discovered that the bulk of tens of millions of pesos in fertilizer funds and money from the priority development assistance fund of several congressmen and one representative from the party-list group Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives in the Bicol Region had been skimmed through overpricing on liquid fertilizer purchases.

They estimated that out of the P61 million covered by their initial audit, corrupt officials pocketed some P49 million.

Despite evidence of irregularities in the use of the fertilizer fund, Nograles saw only political motives in the Senate inquiry led by the Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., agriculture committee chairman.

"The Senate is not content with bashing the President. Now they want to bash administration congressmen as well because the House majority has displayed unwavering support for the administration amidst determined opposition efforts to unseat the President," said Nograles.

He said the House good government committee, which is conducting its own inquiry into the fertilizer anomaly, would summon Senate witness Jose Barredo, who claimed irregularities in the use of millions in fertilizer funds by Representatives Monico Puentevella of Bacolod City and Reylina Nicolas of Bulacan, and former Rep. Oscar Garin of Iloilo.

Puentevella and Nicolas have denied Barredo’s story. Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, daughter-in-law of Garin, made a similar denial for his father-in-law.

Like Nograles, Puentevella and Nicolas added political color to their investigation of Magsaysay, who belongs to the majority bloc in the Senate that is composed mostly of pro-administration senators.

"My only fault is that I have been one of the staunch defenders of the administration," Puentevella said.

He said the funds he received were used to buy fertilizer, which he claimed his constituents received.

For her part, Nicolas said, "The Senate should stop allowing itself to be used for the political harassment of lawmakers aligned with the administration."

She said there is no truth to Barredo’s allegation that she received kickbacks from fertilizer funds allotted to her district.

Puentevella said the House good government committee, which Iloilo Rep. Arthur Defensor chairs, should subpoena Barredo.

He said he would confront the witness when he appears before the committee.

Defensor himself is listed in DA and Commission on Audit documents as having been allotted P3 million. He has so far conducted only one hearing.

The House inquiry was prompted by a privilege speech of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who described the fertilizer fund anomaly as "unpardonable corruption."