Department of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – A plunder complaint against Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) President Honesto Baniqued was filed at the Office of the Ombudsman on Friday for allegedly amassing P1.07 billion.
In his 18-page criminal and administrative complaint, lawyer Argee Guevarra of Sanlakas said the two officials should be prosecuted for plunder, violation of the Anti-Graft Law, malversation of public funds and violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Guevarra said the P1.07 billion that the two had allegedly amassed was part of the P11.4 billion unaccounted funds of Nabcor based on a report from the Commission on Audit (CoA) – P5.6 billion from 2009 to 2011 and P5.8 billion from 2012 to 2013.
“The P5.8 billion disbursed from 2012 to 2013 is way higher than the total amount disbursed from 2009 to 2011,” Guevarra said noting in his complaint that the funds was disbursed by an agency with a record net loss of P10.758 million in 2010 and P43.771 million in 2011.
Alcala, who also serves as ex-officio chair of Nabcor, already announced that the DA was in the process of closing down Nabcor after it was used as a conduit in the transaction entered into by lawmakers and pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim-Napoles.
Guevarra, in his complaint, said the two should be held liable for the following transactions:
*P807.595 million disbursement by Nabcor without, to this date, Disbursement Vouchers (DVs) and Journal Entry Vouchers;
*Another disbursement worth P31.406 million without signatures of the approving authority from Nabcor and DA;
*The amount of P53.429 million supposedly invested by Nabcor in joint venture with ten municipalities is missing and not reflected in the joint venture partners’ books;
*A total of P156.174 million was supposedly disbursed but the same could not be found in the documentation for Nabcor’s project funds;
*A consultant was “hired” by Nabcor for P10.300 million to “negotiate” with another government entity, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), when this was not needed, and the amount of P5.300 million was allegedly expended without the consultant rendering work;
*Alcala and Baniqued rewarded themselves hefty salaries, allowances and other benefits amounting to P23.6 million.”
“The CoA has repeatedly asked Nabcor to account for the above-mentioned funds through the submission of reports and relevant documents, and to comply with regulations regarding public expenditure, to no avail,” Guevarra said.
Citing a Supreme Court ruling in Wa-acon v. People of the Philippines, Guevarra said “by failure to account for the foregoing public funds despite repeated demands by CoA, respondents are presumed in law to have converted the same to their personal use.”
This is the second plunder case filed by Guevarra after a P457-million complaint that he also filed in December, 2013 in connection with alleged overprice government to government rice importation deal with Vietnam.
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