Even the dead got fertilizers, COA reports

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Even the dead got fertilizers, COA reports

April 08, 2006
Updated 01:12am (Mla time)
Philip C. Tubeza
Inquirer

WHAT use would the dead have of fertilizers?

According to the final Commission on Audit report on the P728 million fertilizer fund scandal, even the non-living and the non-farming were among the listed beneficiaries of fertilizers bought with the funds of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program.

The COA also discovered that some of the 15 non-government organizations (NGOs) that received a total of P150.6 million in fertilizer funds were "ghost'' organizations. They were either not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or could not be found in their declared addresses.

The audit body's consolidated report, dated March 31, 2006, was prepared by six auditors who conducted a special audit and ocular inspections nationwide.

The report, which was submitted to the Senate last Tuesday, said the fertilizers bought with the P728 million fund were overpriced by 682 percent, or by P128 million.

The 33-page report said the Department of Agriculture did not set up any system of rules or guidelines to rationalize the distribution of the farm inputs.

"The lack of basic rules resulted in a hazy accountability for the government funds,'' the report said.

It said "deceased persons'' and people who were not engaged in farming were included in the list of beneficiaries in the Ilocos region.

In Magsingal, Ilocos Sur, 103 listed recipients who were supposed to receive 366 bottles of fertilizers worth a total of P549,000 were not residents of the municipality.

Also in the Ilocos, out of 1,332 names in the list of farmers-beneficiaries, 38 were listed twice while two barangay chairs signed confirmations but could not recall the number of bottles they received.

The documents also showed "blatant falsifications," according to COA.

"There were instances when intended beneficiaries were not identified at the outset and neither was any list of recipients attached to provide a mechanism for verification,'' it said.

Random sampling

The COA auditors conducted random sampling in three regions-Ilocos, Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao. They discovered that 42 percent of the 4,437 bottles of fertilizers for distribution in these regions "were not received either by the farmers themselves or by the barangay chairmen.''

There were 1,841 bottles of fertilizer worth P2.72 million that did not reach their recipients, the report said.

In both Ilocos and Northern Mindanao regions, it was found that some of the beneficiaries only received their fertilizers in November 2005 although the funds for their purchase were provided in 2004.

The report noted that those who implemented the GMA program did not coordinate with the city and municipal agriculture offices (MAOs) and barangay chairs, which they needed to do "to identify qualified beneficiaries.''

This was apparently not provided for in the memorandums of agreement that the DA's regional field units signed with the local government units or the NGOs for the distribution of the farm inputs.

Dubious NGOs

The auditors found that some of the 13 NGOS that received funding were of "dubious legitimacy."

"Of the 13 NGOs, only five were holding offices in their addresses of record in Metro Manila, five NGOs and one supplier could not be located, and four NGOs had no certificates of registration filed with the (SEC)," the report said.

The four NGOs without SEC registration papers were: the National Organization for Agricultural Enhancement and Productivity (it received P27 million from the DA, not including the fertilizer funds given by LGUs); the Ikaw at Ako Foundation of Barangay Binanuan, Talisay, Camarines Norte (P8 million); the Kabus nga Mag-uuma ug Mangat Foundation in Cebu City (P.5 million); and The Workers' Cooperative of the Philippines in General Santos City (P5 million).

The report said the following NGOs could not be found in the addresses they gave: the Gabaymasa Development Foundation in Quezon City (P32 million); the Las Marias Foundation (P.5 million) in Caloocan and Quezon City; Sikap Yaman Foundation (P4.9 million); the Philippine Environment and Ecological Development Association (P1.95 million); and the Bukid Tanglaw Livelihood Foundation (P10 million).

These same NGOs also disregarded the requirement of conducting a public bidding for the purchase of fertilizers, the COA said.

Exclusive distributors

"Not being government entities, they were not bound by the procurement reform law despite the fact that they were spending public funds,'' the report said.

It said a canvass of the prices of the foliar fertilizers that the NGOS bought "disclosed that the other brands of foliar fertilizer were available in the market and sold at lower prices than those paid by NGOs/POs.''

"This availability only proved that foliar fertilizer was a common item and that it was readily available in the market so that awards of purchase contracts through negotiation with so-called exclusive distributors was not justified,'' the report said.

The Philippine Social Development Foundation, which received P28 million, bought P5 million worth of fertilizers in Misamis Occidental and distributed these "without [a] list of beneficiaries.''

The auditors found 169 vouchers for disbursements, amounting to P487 million, that were approved by regional executive directors and DA regional field unit signing officers "despite the fact that the individual amounts disbursed exceeded their signing authority."

Split payments

"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 a higher authority,'' it added.

The COA report also found that the DA regional field unit in Southern Tagalog bought 14 units of fabricated mechanical equipment for P14 million "without the benefit of public bidding.'' It noted that these were not classified as farm implements under the GMA program.

Six of the 14 units were found to have been overpriced by P2.75 million.

"While all 14 units were found during field visits, only eight were operational,'' the report said.


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COA releases damning report on fertilizer fund scam

First posted 04:14am (Mla time) April 07, 2006
By Philip C. Tubeza
Inquirer

AS OPPOSITION senators prepare to go a nationwide campaign to force President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign, the Commission on Audit has released to the Senate a damning final report on the P728 million fertilizer fund scandal.

In a 33-page report released after a "special audit," the COA said the funds were used to buy fertilizers overpriced by 682 percent, or by P128 million, for the Department of Agriculture's Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA, Golden Bountiful Harvest) rice program.

COA auditors said there was "no system at all in the distribution of the fertilizers to establish accountability," resulting in "a hazy accountability for the government funds."

Administration critics have claimed that the GMA rice program was used to help the President win the May 2004 presidential elections, noting that the funds for it were released three months before the polls.

The COA report recommended that the DA coordinate with the Office of the Ombudsman in the prosecution of "officials involved in irregularities."

"There was no system at all in the distribution of the fertilizers to establish accountability and neither was there a simple coordination with proper local authorities," the report's executive summary read.

"These were evident from documents that appeared to be obviously falsified," it added.

The consolidated report, dated March 31, 2006, was prepared by six state auditors and was submitted to the Senate last Tuesday.

It was the result of a nationwide special audit conducted by a composite audit team from the COA central office and audit team leaders assigned to the 15 DA regional field offices (RFUs).

This was different from an ongoing special audit that COA is conducting on the P100 million from the Marcos ill-gotten assets that were also allegedly used for the GMA farm inputs program.

The report said the DA-RFUs bought foliar and organic liquid fertilizers from "so-called exclusive distributors" although the item was "readily available in the open market."

The DA's own Bureau of Soil and Water Management also does not recommend the use of foliar fertilizers under its "Tipid Abono Bawas Gastos, Saganang Ani [Reduced Fertilizer, Less Cost, Bountiful Harvest] " program, the report added.

"A canvass of prices disclosed lower prices than those paid. The prices paid by the RFUs exceeded the lowest price obtaining by an average of 682 percent or a total of P128 million," the report said.

It said two RFUs purchased fertilizers totaling P54.74 million from suppliers who were exclusive distributors of certain manufacturers "although other brands of fertilizers with equivalent composition could be obtained at lesser prices."

"Moreover, three brands of fertilizers submitted for tests revealed chemical compositions that fell short of representations printed on their labels," it added.

The report also did not spare former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-joc" Bolante, who has refused to attend the Senate investigation into the alleged fund scam.