Ex-Leyte mayor faces graft over fertilizer fund scam
A former mayor in Leyte faces graft charges for the anomalous procurement of liquid fertilizers worth P1.87 million in 2004.
In a statement on Wednesday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said she found probable cause to charge former Barugo mayor Juliana Villasin for violations of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Villasin was charged with municipal accountant Aluino Ala and municipal agriculturist Reynaldo Bodo.
The Ombudsman investigation showed that Villasin authorized the purchase of 3,900 liters of Fil-Ocean liquid fertilizers from Bals Enterprises through direct contracting.
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But state auditors found irregularities, such as the lack of public bidding, absence of referral to its Bids and Awards Committee, reference to specific brand names and lack of verification as to the qualification and eligibility of the supplier.
The auditors also noted that there was a prior agreement between the respondents and the supplier even before the invitation to bid was published, because the delivery of fertilizers from Quezon City to Leyte took only 48 hours.
The fertilizers were also deemed useless because it was only suitable for vegetables, but the project was intended to boost rice farming system and production-enhancing techniques.
In the resolution, Ombudsman Morales said the respondents “gave Bals Enterprises unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference when they dispensed with the public bidding, pursued direct contracting as a mode of procurement of fertilizer for the Municipality, engaged the latter as supplier, and made payment for fertilizers, thereby causing undue injury to the government.”
The fertilizer funds were sourced from the P728-million “Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Program” of the Department of Agriculture under the administration of former President Gloria Arroyo, meant to provide poor farmers with fertilizer, irrigation, seeds, education and training, loans, as well as dryers and post-harvest facilities.
The P728 million fertilizer funds were part of an alleged scam of diverting the funds to Arroyo’s campaign kitty to pay off favored local officials.
The funds were released three months before the 2004 elections. Arroyo was later cleared by the Ombudsman. CDG
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