Fertilizer scam to blame for ‘Rice Crisis’ – CBCP

April 3, 2008

GMA 7.3 GDP The influential head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) blamed the looming rice shortage on the government’s apparent mismanagement of a multimillion-peso fertilizer fund.

The Arroyo government was accused of diverting the fertilizer fund, intended to boost rice production, to supporting instead the campaign coffers of the administration ticket during the May 2004 elections.

The CBCP president, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, said in a one-page statement Thursday that the “impending” rice shortage could have been prevented if the government had handled well the P729-million fertilizer fund.

“The question keeps coming up,” the prelate added. “Whatever happened to the P729-million fertilizer fund?”

Lagdameo also pointed out that the government’s mismanagement of the fertilizer fund resulted in massive importation of rice.

“The government has its eyes on wrong or lesser priorities. We are forced to import close to a million metric tons of rice,” Lagdameo added in his statement.

He appealed to concerned government agencies to concentrate more on improving local rice production and implement an effective land reform program to revive the country’s agricultural sector.

Lagdameo said these programs should be complemented with ample government support to the agricultural sector to ensure food security and self-sufficiency.

“In the past, our local rice industry used to be the backbone of our country’s economy. With our rice technology, we were helping other countries to produce rice,” he said.

But now, Lagdameo said those countries the Philippines used to help, such as Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Pakistan, have surpassed Filipinos in rice production.

“Today, ironically, even lamentable, because of unsatisfactory production of rice, lack of credit support for our rice farmers and infrastructure development, our farms cannot support the needs of our growing population,” he said.

The CBCP president also said the government should not rely or make rice importation a permanent policy since this will open more doors for possible corruption, instead of helping the poor.

“We will have rice on our tables, but only for those that can afford to buy at P18 per kilo. We will not only have limited rice, our people will also have limited buying power,” Lagdameo said.

The controversial fertilizer fund was coursed through the Department of Agriculture and was handled by then-Undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante, who was apprehended by US Immigration officials for traveling with a visa canceled by their government. He remains in detention in the US.

The Arroyo government is supporting Bolante’s extradition to the Philippines but has not filed the appropriate court case to make that happen.

Swine scam

Meanwhile, Malacañang is also accused of being involved in a multibillion-peso swine scam, that allegedly also took place in 2004, but the Palace said its detractors must come up with proof.

“These allegations are nonsense without sufficient evidence,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said. “Whoever [makes an allegation] should come out with proof. This matter is already subject to internal audit, and what we have to do is to wait for the result of that audit.”

Asked if the Palace is ready for a possible Senate probe, Bunye said he doesn’t want to comment, reiterating that the President’s accusers should just wait for the audit result.

Lawyer Harry Roque Jr. had earlier sounded off irregularities in the government’s swine program, saying the buck on the missing funds at the Quedan Rural Credit and Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) stops at President Arroyo’s doorstep.

He said Quedancor was attached to the Office of the President when a multibillion-peso swine scam took place in 2004, adding that those behind the alleged anomaly may have skimmed off more than P300 million in “arranger’s fees” for facilitating loans for the swine program.

On Wednesday, Roque said government may have spent some P900 million out of its P2.46-billion swine program to fund the 2004 election campaign of the President.

Roque also said the Commission on Audit confirmed some P700 million in unrecorded receivables in 2004, and a bigger amount in unrecorded receivables—P1.6 billion—in 2005.

He also said another anomaly involving the swine program involved up to P300 million in questionable “arranger’s fees” for the loans in the program.

This move was unusual because the loan was between the Land Bank of the Philippines, a government bank, and Quedancor, a government-owned and controlled corporation.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap cannot escape liability, because he was already a member of the firm’s board of directors at the time of the swine scam, Roque said.

While Yap ordered the irregularity investigated, he himself should be among those who should be investigated, Roque said.

Yap said he can no longer do anything if Roque insists that he was involved in the mess, saying he has brought the case to the Ombudsman and to the National Bureau of Investigation.

By Anthony Vargas and Angelo S. Samonte, Reporters

source: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/apr/04/yehey/top_stories/20080404top2.html

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