An umbrella organization of agriculture stakeholders has accused the Department of Agriculture of centralizing corruption when it took control of the negotiated bidding for urea fertilizers that resulted in last month’s allegedly overpriced supply contracts worth P1.8 billion.
Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) chairman Rosendo So also rejected the claim of Agriculture Secretary William Dar that the close to P1,000 per bag contract price was cheaper than the national average retail price ranging from P1,043 to P1,062 per bag from March to May.
“That’s pure fiction. They invented those numbers to justify the overpricing. You can go to any outlet store across Central Luzon and you will not encounter such prices. The average price is only at P850 per bag. That means under the negotiated bidding, there’s a difference of almost P150 per bag at their price tag of P990 to P995,” So said.
“Farmers are laughing at the DA for making such a claim, but unfortunately, unscrupulous officials at the DA are probably laughing too, all the way to the bank after making a killing out of the emergency funds meant to protect farmers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
Dar earlier insisted the biddings were above board and resulted in savings for the government, but So stood firm on his position that the supply contracts were grossly disadvantageous as these were overpriced.
“It is hard to hide the price of urea fertilizer because every municipality has outlets that sell these. If a farmer can buy fertilizer from an outlet store at P850 per bag, why did the DA—buying in bulk for 1.8 million bags—decide to buy the more expensive one?” the SINAG head said in a radio interview.
“DA is claiming the higher contract price would cover distribution costs but it is the same for retail outlets. In fact, for retail stores, you go through the importer, the distributor, and the dealer until it reaches the retailer. And at every step there is additional cost, yet the retail price average is only P850. The DA went straight to the importer, but the price is P995 per bag. What kind of deal is that?” he added.
So said this defeated the DA’s decision to centralize the bidding process amid what the department said were questionable transactions at the regional level.
“The funds were already at the regions yet they decided to bring the process to the Central Office, citing corruption at the regional level. But now it appears the Central Office is more corrupt with these overpriced contracts of single qualified bidders,” he said.
So cited the case of a disqualified bidder who offered P830 to P850 per bag for last month’s supply contracts. When the same bidder offered to participate in this week’s bidding process and offered P985 per bag, the DA wanted to qualify the bidder, he said.
“If you give a lower bid, they disqualify you. If you raise your bid, your bid will qualify,” So noted.
The Department of Agriculture, under its stimulus program Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat Kontra COVID-19 (ALPAS sa COVID-19), has allocated P5.69 billion for the procurement of urea fertilizer at slightly less than P1,000 per bag.
Notices of award were issued last month to two suppliers amounting to P1.8 billion—to La Filipina Uy Gongco Corporation for P1.69 billion at P990 to P995 per bag for supply contracts for Regions 4A, 6 and 3; and to Atlas Fertilizer for P96.74 million for a supply contract for Region 7.
Farmers have questioned the supply contracts, saying a bag of urea fertilizer could be bought at outlet stores for P830 in Tarlac, P810 in Pangasinan, and P840 in Nueva Ecija.
A national alliance of farmers has already called for the filing of graft charges against Agriculture officials involved in the allegedly overpriced supply contracts.
“We must get to the bottom of this matter and hold accountable those who are involved in the negotiated bidding for the emergency purchase of P1.8-billion worth of fertilizer,” Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus Rafael Mariano said.
Over at the Senate, Agriculture committee chairperson Senator Cynthia Villar said she is committed to investigate the alleged overpriced fertilizer supply contracts approved by the Department of Agriculture.
“I will look into the issue but I have to file a Senate Resolution first in order to schedule an inquiry or investigation,” said Villar.
Since Congress is in recess right now and will resume in the third week of July, Villar said she would still have to wait in order to file a Senate resolution to conduct a Senate probe into the matter.
“Once the Senate opens, we will, of course, look at all the sides to this issue,” she said.
“For the meantime, the agri groups and farmers can bring their concern or complaints to the State Prosecutor at the Department of Justice (DoJ),” she added.