Alcala says he’s been bruised amid calls for overhaul of DA

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said he had been beaten black and blue by criticism but draws strength from farmers and President Aquino.

“Look at me,” said Alcala. “If every word told against me can hurt, my face would have been full of bruises and blue,” he said.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is facing four separate investigations in the Senate, House of Representatives and Department of Justice over irregularities allegedly

involving top DA officials.

Among those that sought an investigation of alleged DA irregularities is Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, whose name was listed as endorser of a project in Surigao del Sur that went to a bogus nongovernment organization.

“Maybe it’s time really to overhaul the DA,” said Pimentel during a blue ribbon committee hearing during which he revealed his discovery about the use of his name for a questionable DA project.

The House is also investigating the alleged overpricing of rice imports from Vietnam that led to losses of P457 million.

The hearings are offshoots of resolutions filed by Representatives Gary Alejano and Francisco Ashley (Magdalo) and Sen. Loren Legarda.

During the Makina-Saka, an annual machinery road show here, Alcala said he had talked to Aquino about his predicament.

“The President told me, who will replace you? Those crazy people? Those are the exact words that the President told me,” Alcala said.

At a recent blue ribbon committee hearing, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said her department is also investigating the DA for alleged misuse of funds.

To his critics, Alcala said: “At the end of the day, these people are just saying that they are for the people but if you look at their motives, they want us to go back to importation which favors farmers of other countries, not the Filipino farmers.”

He said that from 2001 to 2010, the country imported P310 billion worth of rice “which, if used to buy farm machinery for farmers, we would not be impoverished now.”

“When the country was importing P67 billion worth of rice, none of them stood up against importation. Now that we imported [much less], many came out to say we are doing wrong,” he said.

“There are forces who want me to be removed from my position [as secretary] that’s why many [negative] issues on rice supply and production have been coming out,” he said.

Alcala also boasted of gains in other fields. He said the country’s corn production has improved.

In 2012, he said, the country no longer imported corn and was aiming to export locally grown produce by 2015.

He said the Philippines is a major source of dressed chicken, even of Japan which imposes stringent quality control mechanisms, “because we are bird-flu free and FMD (foot and mouth disease)-free.”

He said farm mechanization is one of the government’s programs to attain self-sufficiency in rice production. “The machines are not meant to take away labor from farmers but to increase productivity in the farms,” he said. With a report from Anselmo Roque, Inquirer Central Luzon