DA exec charged with plunder goes on leave

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA—Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup, one of 38 persons facing plunder charges at the Office of the Ombudsman, announced Tuesday he has gone on leave to prepare for his defense.

Salacup, former president of the ZNAC Rubber Estate Corp., filed his leave of absence 15 days after the Department of Justice announced that the Ombudsman had received complaints against current legislators, former lawmakers and their chiefs of staff or representatives and officials of state firms as well as Janet Lim-Napoles and presidents of fraudulent non-governmental organizations that Napoles allegedly put up.

“I had expected to move out temporarily (but) it took us time to transition,” Salacup said in an interview. “I had to discuss matters with key officers who would take over my various responsibilities at the DA (Department of Agriculture).”

He said he has submitted a list of five persons who could assume official functions that he is vacating. These positions include his main responsibilities as assistant secretary in charge of matters related to fisheries, agribusiness and marketing.

Salacup also represented the department in the Philippine International Trading Corp., Food Terminal Inc., National Price Coordinating Council and National Consumer Affairs Council.

He also chaired the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, and supervised the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council on trade competitiveness as well as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on policy matter.

Salacup said Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala expected him to file for leave and that his boss knew he was preparing for a smooth transition.

“I am intensively preparing for formal cases, about which the Ombudsman has yet to notify me,” he said. “This is also meant to dispel notions of any undue pressure” related to the direction that the cases against him would take.

The Inquirer earlier reported that it had obtained copies of seven agreements prepared by Salacup which released funds from the agriculture department’s Organic Agriculture Program to bogus NGOs run by Napoles’ employees Merlina Suñas and John Lim.

Salacup said that he did not know Napoles personally or the president of the NGOs that received funds through ZREC.

He said ZREC took its cue from the recommendation of the senators regarding how their Priority Development Assistance Fund allocation should be used.