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Farmers group wants Senate probe into supposedly overpriced fertilizer contracts
An umbrella farmers group on Monday called for a Senate investigation into what it said could be overpriced supply contracts worth P1.8 billion, saying that the Department of Agriculture (DA) is paying over P100 more than the prevailing retail price per bag.
According to the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), the DA allocated P5.69 billion for the procurement of urea fertilizer at P1,000 per bag under its stimulus program Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat Kontra COVID-19 (ALPAS sa COVID-19).
According to SINAG chairman Rosendo So, the DA bid for 1.7 million bags of fertilizer at over P100 above the prevailing retail price.
"A negotiated bidding should even be lower than retail price, mas mababa pa dapat ito sa P850 per bag," he said in an emailed statement.
"Fertilizer bought by farmers themselves fetch for only P830 to P850 per bag. This shows that the purchase of these urea fertilizer by the DA Central Office was utterly disadvantageous to the government and to our farmers; especially now when we need all the funds available to survive this pandemic," he added.
So called on the Senate to look into the matter, which was already earlier raised by Senator Cynthia Villar.
"We call on the Senate to take the cudgels for our farmers who have been betrayed by the very officials who are supposed to help them recover from the adverse effects of COVID-19," said So.
"We ask our senators to immediately investigate this and take to task those who are behind this anomalous deal," he added.
Under the DA program, a bag of hybrid seeds and three bags of urea will be given to each farmer for every hectare of land, upon presentation of proof of purchase or receipts of two bags of urea fertilizer.
"We must remember that funds secured for this bidding process came from an emergency fund to help our farmers cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," said So.
"We do not want a repeat of another full-blown Senate investigation but all data so far will lead to the conclusion of a new 'fertilizer scam' orchestrated amid the pandemic... The figures are embarrassingly high: May kumikita sa pandemya," he added.
For its part, the DA said it procured the first batch of fertilizers "strictly following" the procurement modality of negotiated procurement.
Latest data available from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the average price of urea fertilizers was recorded at P1,121.57 per 50-kilogram bag in 2018.
According to Agriculture Secretary William Dar, the DA initially procured a total of 1.811 million bags of urea fertilizer at P1,035.60 per bag from April 27 to May 1; at P1,037.53 from May 4 to 8; and at P1,040 to May 11 to 15.
The figures comprise four of the 16 lots for the wet season 2020 cropping.
"Such prices were a lot cheaper compared to previous purchases at the regions, ranging from P1,300 to P1,500 per 50-kilo bag of urea fertilizer," said Dar.
"Hence, at less than P1,000 per 50kg, we are already saving a lot for the government. And there is a downward trend of prices, as we are conducting a more transparent centralized bidding through the DA Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) " he added.
The fertilizers were procured from La Filipino Uy Congo Corporation and Atlas Fertilize .
"I can personally vouch for the truthfulness and trustworthiness of the procurement process that the DA-BAC has exercised for these fertilizers. Guided by our Legal Office and in constant consultation with the GPPB, we made sure we followed to the number the prescribed procurement procedure as required by the law," said Dar.
"We have been very transparent on the procurement of fertilizer as we know this might be used to stir false information against the government. The DA will not wrongfully hold any information that should be known to the public. I encourage everyone to help us look even closer to ensure that every peso we allot is going to where it should be spent," he added. — BM, GMA News
