Advance payments to hogs suppliers in ‘Swine Scam’ bared

April 4, 2008

After uncovering additional proof of anomalies in the Quedan and Rural Credit Corp. “Swine Scam,” this time involving advance payments to suppliers prior to supposed deliveries of swines to farmers, lawyer Harry Roque yesterday said the scam is not a simple case of “bad debt,” as Quedancor claimed, but really a “scheme” intended to disburse billions of public funds with no intention of recovering the money.

Following the discovery of more evidence, the lawyer suggested the creation of a people’s court to try the officials liable in the scam.

“The board of directors should now be made to account where the funds went. What they are saying about the funds having gone to bad debt is a lie,” he said in an interview at the Centerlaw Philippines office in Makati City.

“Quedancor board officials should face the issue, come out in the open and explain why advance payments were given to suppliers even before the delivery of swine could be made to farmers,” Roque added.

Most of the suppliers reportedly have no track record in the agricultural business and were registered only a year before the 2004 elections with a paid-up capital of P62,500.

Aside from the P1.6 billion being questioned by the Commission on Audit (CoA), Roque said Quedancor is unlikely to have been billed by Landbank to pay a total of P9.3 million in “arranger’s fee” and “attorney’s fee” in connection with the P5-billion loan transaction entered into by Quedancor with bank.

Landbank issued a notice to Quedancor for the arranger’s fee and attorney’s fee in the amount of P9.3 million, a transaction which Roque described as highly irregular between two government entities.

The lawyer noted in the computation of arranger’s fee, Landbank had slapped Quedancor Gross Receipts Tax and Value Added Tax for P2.31-million and P4.86-million, respectively, and an attorney’s fee of P2.19-million.

He said no less than Quedancor president Nelson Buenaflor questioned the payment of such fees to Landbank in his reply sent on May 26, 2004 addressed to LandBank vice president Roberto Vergara.

Roque pointed out Malacanang and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are now trying to find an easy way out of the swine scam by pointing to an alleged erroneous entry in the files of the CoA, aside from its claim of missing documents.

“It is a very huge amount to be a mistaken entry and besides, who would believe them? According to the CoA, there was no record where the money went because no accounting was done. This alone is a basis for the filing of charges against the officials and other parties involved” the lawyer said.

He pointed out the amounts in the hundreds of millions were likely diverted by Malacañang to fund President Arroyo’s presidential campaign in 2004, stressing the balance was definitely spent during the election period, as shown by the CoA report.

An even bigger amount is also being suspected of having been misused in 2005, after an executive order, transferring Quedancor directly under the Office of the President (OP), was issued.

Roque said since the anomalous transactions were committed when Quedancor was still under the OP, Mrs. Arroyo should be held accountable for the anomaly.

“The buck should stop with President Arroyo. Nothing happens without the go signal of the President. At the time Quedancor was still under the OP, the directors functioned only as rubber stamps because they were under the control and supervision of the President,” the lawyer stressed.

For his part, Sen. Francis Escudero urged Quedancor to bare before the public its book of accounts to expose those who likely partook of the swine funds, if indeed there were beneficiaries.

“If Quedancor has a record of them, publication of the names of borrowers should not be hard considering the fact that we regularly publish nursing board results which contain as much as 35,000 names,” the senator said in calling for a bar examination results-style of presenting to the public those who have allegedly been remiss in paying their loans from the agency’s swine-raising funds program.

“Publication is the only way to know if the funds were indeed received by farmers as claimed by Quedancor. The proof of the lending is in the listing,” he said, adding “”The list will tell us who hogged the swine funds, and if the money was indeed used to fatten some pigs or fatten someone’s bank account or campaign war chest.”

Escudero said the search for the list of those who likely partook of the swine funds could be likened to the Palace’s deliberate manipulation of funds to select political minions.

“Only that was a figurative pork. Now we are looking for the literal pork, to whom did these porks go?” he asked.

The senator would not accept what he described as a “limp excuse” of Quedancor officials that the list of beneficiaries was lost, pointing out as a financial institution, they are supposed to be as fastidious about records as bankers.

“If the distribution (of pigs) did happen, then there should be a paper trail like receipts and vouchers,” Escudero stressed.

Meanwhile, apparently in a panic mode over the controversy, Mrs. Arroyo yesterday approved the proposal to install a Deputy Ombudsman at the DA.

During her speech at yesterday’s Food Summit held at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, the President expressed support to the proposal of Rep. Baham Mitra, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on agriculture aimed at promoting transparency in government transactions particularly those involving the agricultural sector.

“According to congressman Baham Mitra, the DA cannot watch over all transactions. According to him, RA 6670 gives power to appoint more Deputy Ombudsmen. In 1990, such a deputy was appointed for the military. Considering the fact that farm spending may now be bigger than defense spending, a Deputy Ombudsman may be needed in agriculture. The appointment of a Deputy Ombudsman will be pursuant to our transparency initiative. It will also ensure that money is spent wisely,” Mrs. Arroyo said.

The Chief Executive added she will leave the matter to Congress but stressed she is not condoning corruption.

Mrs. Arroyo said she is prohibiting all her officials to directly deal with fertilizer brokers and agents to avoid suspicions on the integrity of government agricultural projects.Ben Gines, Jr., Angie M. Rosales and Sherwin C. Olaes

From page 1

He said no less than Quedancor president Nelson Buenaflor questioned the payment of such fees to Landbank in his reply sent on May 26, 2004 addressed to LandBank vice president Roberto Vergara.

Roque pointed out that Malacañang and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are now trying to find an easy way out of the swine scam by pointing to an alleged erroneous entry in the files of the CoA, aside from its claim of missing documents.

An even bigger amount is also being suspected of having been misused in 2005, after an executive order, transferring Quedancor directly under the Office of the President (OP), was issued.

Roque said since the anomalous transactions were committed when Quedancor was still under the OP, Mrs. Arroyo should be held accountable for the anomaly.

For his part, Sen. Francis Escudero urged Quedancor to bare before the public its book of accounts to expose those who likely partook of the swine funds, if indeed there were beneficiaries.

“Publication is the only way to know if the funds were indeed received by farmers as claimed by Quedancor. The proof of the lending is in the listing,” he said, adding “The list will tell us who hogged the swine funds, and if the money was indeed used to fatten some pigs or fatten someone’s bank account or campaign war chest.”

Escudero said the search for the list of those who likely partook of the swine funds could be likened to the Palace’s deliberate manipulation of funds to select political minions.

“Only that was a figurative pork. Now we are looking for the literal pork, to whom did these porks go?” he asked.

“If the distribution (of pigs) did happen, then there should be a paper trail like receipts and vouchers,” Escudero stressed.

Meanwhile, apparently in a panic mode over the controversy, Mrs. Arroyo yesterday approved the proposal to install a Deputy Ombudsman at the DA.

During her speech at yesterday’s Food Summit held at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, the President expressed support to the proposal of Rep. Abraham Mitra, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on agriculture, aimed at promoting transparency in government transactions particularly those involving the agricultural sector.

“According to congressman Baham Mitra, the DA cannot watch over all transactions. He said RA 6670 gives power to appoint more Deputy Ombudsmen. In 1990, such a deputy was appointed for the military.

“Considering the fact that farm spending may now be bigger than defense spending, a Deputy Ombudsman may be needed in agriculture. The appointment of a Deputy Ombudsman will be pursuant to our transparency initiative. It will also ensure that money is spent wisely,” Mrs. Arroyo said.

The Chief Executive added she will leave the matter to Congress but stressed she is not condoning corruption.

Mrs. Arroyo said she is prohibiting all her officials to directly deal with fertilizer brokers and agents to avoid suspicions on the integrity of government agricultural projects. Ben Gines, Jr., Angie M. Rosales and Sherwin C. Olaes

source: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20080405hed2.html

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