Mitra: No report yet on fertilizer scam

MANILA, Philippines – Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra, chairman of the House committee on agriculture, yesterday said his committee has not come up with a report on the P728-million fertilizer scam in 2004.

“We have not even started writing a report,” he told reporters in a text message.

He was reacting to published stories that his committee has cleared former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante, the man tagged by the Senate in a separate investigation as the “brains” behind the fertilizer fund scam.

In a statement he issued later, Mitra also clarified, “It is not true that the COA (Commission on Audit) cannot find liability against Bolante. In fact, COA reported to the committee nine instances of irregularities supposedly committed by Bolante.”

Mitra was referring to the COA’s special report on the P728-million GMA Farm Input Fund released on March 29, 2006.

“I beg the understanding of our partners in the media. This is such a sensitive issue that is very important to every Filipino, most especially our poor farmers. We have to be mindful of the effects of such kind of misleading report,” he said.

Never explicitly tagged

A COA official, who talked to The STAR on condition of anonymity, said the special report on the fertilizer fund never explicitly tagged Bolante as the one being referred to by critics as the “architect” of the scam, noting that audit reports made by the commission never point to persons or officials who are to blame for the irregularities in government transactions.

“It (COA report) mentions offices. And the irregularity in this case happened in a project under an agency which is the DA. And that time, he (Bolante) was the one sitting in an office under that agency that supervised the project,” the source explained.

“A COA report points to what is wrong in the process involving a government transaction and not to the levers or the hands manipulating these transactions,” the source added.

“Going through the audit report (on the fertilizer fund), it does not make specific mention of names (responsible for the irregularities). When it comes to accountability, names will have to be brought up at the body investigating it.”

Exceeded signing authority

Based on the COA’s special audit report – a copy of which was obtained by The STAR – 169 vouchers for disbursements amounting to P487 million were approved by the DA’s Regional Executive Directors and other officials of its Regional Field Units even if the individual amounts disbursed exceeded their signing authority.

“Some 149 check payments totaling P116 million appeared to be split in order to keep the amounts within their signing authority, thereby avoiding action by higher authority,” the report stated.

The RFUs in Regions II, III, V, IX, X, XI, and XIII commented to the state auditors that these disbursements were based on authorities given by Bolante and then Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr.

“The Office based its authority to sign/approve vouchers above the P1-million ceiling for the transfer of funds to Concerned Local Government Units and Non-Government Organizations on the Memorandum issued by Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante dated March 17, 2004 re: Authority to enter into Memorandum of Agreement with LGUs under the DA’s Farm Input/Farm Implements program and Memorandum of Secretary Luis Lorenzo under the Farm Inputs/ Farm Implements Program,” stated a portion of the COA report on the management’s comments.

The management comment stated that the disbursements were authorized “based on the attached special authority granted by the Secretary and Undersecretary.”

Meantime, the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) refused to comment yesterday on earlier reports that the House Committee on Agriculture has cleared Bolante of any wrongdoing in relation to the fertilizer fund scam.

In a statement sent to The STAR, Assistant Ombudsman Jose de Jesus Jr. said the issue is “still the subject of extensive investigations being conducted by the (OMB).” – With Reinir Padua, Michael Punongbayan