Roxas: Agri Sector Is “Sick”

Gov’t. Political Will VS
“Chronic Infections” Lacking

Senator Mar Roxas said last week that the agriculture sector remains “sick,” and drastic measures to improve governance in the Department of Agriculture (DA) are needed if the country is to weather the worldwide economic downturn.”

He said the government has so far failed to act on obvious “chronic infections” in the agriculture sector’s governance, such as the persistence of anomalous practices and lump-sum budgetary allocations which pave the way for the former. This, even if the Commission on Audit finds, year in and year out, irregularities in the disbursement of funds in the sector.

Our agriculture sector is seriously ailing because of the inadequate assistance of the government to our farmers. The money that was meant to help the farmers has even been stolen by those close to the administration, such as former DA Usec. Jocelyn ‘Joc-Joc’ Bolante,” he said.

We still have a food crisis and we still depend on imports. We have failed to help our farmers, and a major reason for this are the shenanigans in the DA,” he said.

According to the Ilonggo senator, even as Bolante departed for the United States in 2005, numerous anomalies in the DA continue to be digged up by the Commission On Audit (COA) which show the pervasiveness of corruption within the institution. Among the anomalous practices are the overpricing and wastage of farm inputs, irregular disbursement from and to government agencies and corporations, and irregularities in procuring supplies and equipment.

In 2005, for example, Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program funds showed an excess of P123 million and used a list of beneficiaries with forged and fictitious names.

In 2006, P616.8 million was transferred to government-owned and –controlled corporations for projects which the CoA said DA agencies were capable of carrying out, and that the memoranda of agreement for these transfers did not require liquidation documents.

In 2007, GMA “Gulayan ng Masa” funds of P135.34 million for vegetable seeds and planting materials had no master list of beneficiaries in most regions nationwide. Also, P176.69 million worth of corn seeds had no master list of beneficiaries, and the seeds were observed not to be of high-yield quality.

Also in 2007, P389.2 million for farm-to-market roads was not implemented in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Regions IV, V and VII to XI, and P289.3 million worth of research and development projects of the Bureau of Agricultural Research lacked hard evidence of completion.
“With so many anomalies happening now, we don’t know how much in taxpayers’ money simply goes to officials in the government,” Roxas said.
“How will the people believe that the government is in control of the economic crisis if it is refusing to act on obvious ‘chronic infections’ in the agriculture sector like Joc-Joc and lump sum funds? he asked. Now is the perfect time to show political will,”.

Roxas, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce noted that even though the price of regular rice has gone down from P38 per kilo in the middle of the year, it remained at P30/kilo, which is 20 percent higher than the P24/kilo price at the start of the year. Also, as of September, headline inflation stood at 11.9 percent year-on-year nationwide, while core inflation, or the price inflation of select items, stood at 7.5 percent year-on-year.

The Ilonggo senator recently twitted Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez for sitting on recommendation by her subordinates seeking to indict Bolante for graft in relation to his roles in at least two fund diversion scams in the DA. /MP