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NAKATANIM na sa isipan ng marami sa atin na kapag ang bigas ay mula sa National Food Authority (NFA) ito ‘yong mga may amoy at pangit na uring bigas mula sa India at Thailand.

Bahala na ang pamunuan ng NFA magpaliwanag kung anong "magic" ang kanilang ginagawa. Kalimitan ito yung mga bigas na nabibili sa mga palengke na inirereklamo ng mga nagbebentang retailers sa amin.

Kung ano ‘yong amoy ng bigas mula sa Thailand at India, yun din ang amoy na umaalingasaw sa loob ng NFA ni Administrator Arthur Yap.

Patuloy na nagaganap araw-araw ang "pagnanakaw" ng mga sindikato sa rice diversion sa loob ng mga NFA warehouses ng CAMANAVA, Manila at South District.

Tuluy-tuloy ang sabwatan ng mga taga-NFA at ng mga "middleman," labas pasok sa mga NFA warehouses. Tuloy-tuloy din naman ang pagpipista ng mga "undercover" ng BITAG. Tsk..tsk..tsk.

Kamakailan lang nagpa-presscon ang presidente ng Confederation of Grains Retailers Association of the Philippines Inc. (GRECON) si Danilo "Boy’’ Garcia. Ewan bakit hindi lumabas sa media ‘yong kanyang mga pinagsasabi.

Tumawag pa siya sa aking cellphone para sabihin may "exclusive story" siyang ibibigay sa akin ‘nung araw ding ‘yon. Akala siguro ni Garcia ipinanganak lang ako kahapon. Nakasanayan nito ‘yong media na "patay gutom" na kanilang pinaglalaruan.

Ayon kay Garcia, hindi daw patas ang distribution ng mga "newly arrived rice" mula sa Vietnam ng NFA. Ito ngayon yun mga bigas na pinag-aagawan ng mga sindikatong retailers na miyembro ng GRECON ni Gracia.

Umatungal lang daw itong si Garcia dahil napunta lahat kina Pia at Deo ‘yong dalawang kamada na sumatotal 40,000 sacks.

P30.00 daw bawat sako ‘yong patong nitong manager ng Southern District NFA warehouse sa mga "newly arrived rice". Tsk.. tsk.. tsk.

Administrator Arthur Yap, simula ngayon gawin mong salamin ang kolum kong ito. Sa ganitong paraan hindi ka nalalagyan na ipot sa iyong bumbunan. Bantayan mo si Roberto Musngi kung hindi mo kaya, ipagpaubaya mo sa BITAG .

Simula ngayon, ugaliin mong magbasa, makinig at manood sa mga ginagawa ko sa radyo, TV at sa diyaryong ito.

Kung napakalma n’yo si Garcia sa kanyang pagpupuputak, puwes saludo ako sa iyo. Pag-isipan niyo nang maigi ang problema. Hindi sa epekto ang solusyon, sa DAHILAN! Abangan.. * * *

1.First, the Farm Inputs and Implements Program was non-existent. Nobody in the Department of Agriculture was aware of its existence. Not a single document in the files of the DA supported its existence.
2.Second, the fertilizer fund was a single appropriation meant only for 2004. Its implementation in 2004 during the months of the election season is an indication of its intended purpose and illicit objective.
3.Third, the design and implementation of the fertilizer fund scam manifested the height of scandalous corruption â€" gross overpricing of fertilizers range from almost 700 to 1,250 percent. Towable shredders and chippers were overpriced by as much as 331 percent while small shredders and chippers, by 206 percent.
4.Fourth, the fertilizer fund was released in the months of February to May, the traditional harvest season in the country when fertilizers are not in use. The planting season begins only in November.
5.Fifth, the fertilizer fund scam is haunted by ghost and questionable suppliers and deliveries. For instance, the registered business address of AKAME Marketing, the identified supplier of a substantial number of transactions in the P728-million fertilizer fund, could not be located. There were no documents to prove that Castle Rock Construction, which was awarded with multiple contracts, can engage or do business related to the trading of fertilizers. FESHAN Philippines, Inc., one of the largest suppliers, was originally a medical supplier that started to supply fertilizer only in 2004, its office address also non-existent.
6.Sixth, there was gross disproportion between what was needed by the farmers and wasteful utilization of the farmers’ fund as shown by a document identifying the fertilizer requirements for 2003 submitted by Frisco Malabanan, GMA Rice Program director. The amount needed was only P28.613 million for the entire country compared to P2.806 billion released for 2004.
7.Seventh, liquid foliar fertilizer, which is appropriate for ornamental plants, was supplied. Rice requires solid fertilizers which include urea, ammonium sulfate, ammophos, complete fertilizers, and muriate of potash, depending on the situation of the soil.
8.Eighth, there was “double corruption” in that the wrong and overpriced kind of fertilizer for rice was even diluted with water.
9.Ninth, Bolante cunningly, wittingly listed 105 congressmen, 53 governors and 23 mayors to justify the immediately release of the fund, specifying uniform amounts, regardless of which congressional districts or local government units the proponents represent, whether these were rice or corn-producing LGUs or not. Bolante even listed proponents from Metro Manila where farms are non-existent.
10.Tenth, Bolante made the list attractive by including a number of politicians as proponents. In truth, however, their names were just used to lend credence to the project.

KUNG inakala nating GARAPAL na ang nawawalang P728-milyones para sa fertilizer fund under Jocjoc Bolante’s term ‘e meron pa palang mas malala d’yan.
Hanggang ngayon daw kasi ay hindi maipaliwanag ni dating Agriculture Secretary at ngayon ay Congressman ARTHUR YAP kung saan napunta ang P49 BILYONES budget para sa “farm to market road” project sa ilalim ng administrasyon ni dating Pangulong GMA.
Imbes “from farm to market”  ‘e naging “from DBM to pocket” yata ni Sec. ARTHUR YAP?!
Aba, ‘e kailangang ipaliwanag nang malinaw ni Sec. YAP ‘yan!
‘E how about TESDA naman? Saan napunta ang pondong daan-daan milyon pondo na inihirit ni former Director Augusto Syjuco?
Sa mga Arroyo t-shirts? Sa GMA’s scholarship program? Sa TV commercials ni Syjuco? Kay Sarah Geronimo?!
Tsk tsk tsk …

Tiniyak ngayon ni dating Agriculture Secretary at ngayon ay Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap na bukas siya sa pagbibigay ng pahayag sakaling hilingin ito sa balak na muling pagbubukas sa usapin ng fertilizer fund scam.

Sa pagdalo ni Yap sa orientation ng mga bagong mambabatas sa Kamara, sinabi nitong natutuwa siya sa pagbabalik sa bansa ng kaniyang dating "boss" na si Cito Lorenzo.

Ayon kay Yap, mas mabuting si Lorenzo na umano ang magsalita sa usapin dahil ito ang pinuno ng kagawaran noong bilhin ang mga kontrobersyal na fertilizer na sinasabing pinamahalaan ni dating Undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-joc" Bolante.

Pero agad nilinis ng dating kalihim ang sarili dahil sa Luzon region umano siya nakatalaga noon at wala siyang direktang kaugnayan sa mga ganitong transaksyon.

lami unta ug ma aksyonan ni dayon.....

 

by Roy Pelovello and Christine F. Herrera

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday accused the Arroyo administration of allowing favored businessmen to reap windfall profits from the rice importation that the National Food Authority had opened to the private sector.

A recent audit of the food agency showed that a favored group was given the authority to import rice, Mr. Aquino told reporters at the Liberal Party’s 65th founding anniversary at the Club Filipino in San Juan.

The previous administration of President Gloria Arroyo had encouraged the private sector to participate in the rice importations as a way of reducing government spending.

“But it seemed [the authority given to the private sector to import rice] was on a first-come-first-served basis,” Mr. Aquino said.

“Our NFA administrator is puzzled why the manager’s checks issued by [the] private businessmen allowed to import rice came only from one bank.

“And there’s more. It was found that the [serial numbers of the] checks issued were sequential in order. It seemed only one group or one person benefited from this.”

But former Agriculture Secretary and now Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap said nobody was given preferential treatment.

“The government could not possibly [have allowed] anyone to corner contracts because of [the] strict implementing rules and guidelines,” Yap said.

“Everything was done through a public bidding or auction.”

Yap challenged the President to name names and to identify the businessmen who were supposed to have been favored.

“There was no such thing as a rice cartel or big players that were given favors,” he said.

He was willing to face any investigation to prove that the rice importations during his watch were conducted properly.

The President, who cut financing for the NFA in the 2011 budget, said the agency would continue to perform its mandate of ensuring an adequate supply of rice, but vowed to bring order back to the food agency.

He said that when he came to power, his administration inherited the agency’s P176.7-billion debt that he blamed on the excessive rice importation in 2009.

Earlier, NFA Administrator Angelito Banayo claimed that there also had been an excessive importation of rice in 2004 and 2007, and asked the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the matter.

Mr. Aquino said that while the estimated need was only 1.3 million metric tons, the actual importation reached about 2.5 million metric tons, or about three times the projected demand.

“What is worse was that the importation was overpriced by about $60 to $125 [per ton] compared to the benchmark prices of the [Food and Agriculture Organization],” he said.

But Yap said the Arroyo administration in 2009 actually imported less than the amount recommended by an inter-agency committee.

Militant groups on Friday urged National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Lito Banayo to file criminal and other appropriate charges against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary and now Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap in connection with the importation of overpriced rice by $ 125 per metric ton over the last three years from 2008 to 2010.

In a joint press statement, the militant peasant groups Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said Banayo should purse the filing of raps against Reps. Arroyo and Yap for orchestrating this grandmother of corruption since Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001.

“The issue of truth and justice should not end with the exposition of the crime. The next big step the NFA should do is to bring Mrs. Arroyo, Mr. Yap and their partners in crime before the bars of justice. So, Mr. Banayo what’s next?” the rural based groups said in a joint statement.

Banayo said an audit of the 10-year importation record of NFA showed that its rice imports were overpriced by $60 per metric ton, and such over importation of overpriced rice imports pushed the debt of NFA to P 177 billion.

KMP secretary general Danilo Ramos said the first corrective measure that should be undertaken by NFA is the filing of criminal raps against Arroyo and Yap. The peasant leader said the NFA audit performance report should also merit the immediate cancellation of all plans pertaining to rice importation this year which amount to 700,000 metric tons of rice from foreign countries or about 33 percent of the 2.4 million metric tons imported last year.

Ramos said the House of Representatives should also conduct a full-blown investigation on rice importation based on the 10-year audit performance on rice importation of the NFA over the last decade. “We suggest the leadership of House Speaker Sonny Belmonte to investigate this rice scandal and make Reps. Arroyo and Yap accountable for their crimes against the People of the Philippines,” he said.

For his part, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the discovery of 10-year overpricing of NFA rice imports merits a P 13 per kilo rice rollback in the price of NFA retailed rice or from the present P 27 per kilo to P 14 per kilo of NFA sold rice.

“Secretary Banayo and members of NFA Council must roll back the price of rice from P 27 to P 14 per kilo.  We believe it correct and just,” said Hicap.

“The accumulated P 13 per kilo increase in the price of rice since 2001 is an economic injustice both to farmers and the poor consumers. The NFA since time immemorial has exploiting both the farmers and the poor consumers to raise additional funds for importation of rice abroad, pave way for the grand privatization of the agency and transform NFA into an all-time billion peso producing government agency for bureaucrat capitalists like Arroyo and Yap,” said Pamalakaya. D’Jay Lazaro