Ecija pork case tagged bigger graft precursor

Janet Lim-Napoles. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net

CABANATUAN CITY—The Office of the Ombudsman may have failed to act on one of the first reported anomalies involving a congressman’s pork barrel, according to farmers and politicians in Nueva Ecija.

Had the anomaly been addressed, the public would have been alerted much earlier to the massive skimming of pork barrel projects attributed to detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, said former Nueva Ecija Vice Gov. Edward Tomas Joson.

He filed a complaint in 2008 over overpriced fertilizers intended for farmers in the towns of Gabaldon and Gen. Natividad in Nueva Ecija, but the complaint dragged on for years.

The anomaly involved the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of then Rep. Aurelio Umali of the 3rd district of Nueva Ecija. Umali, who is now governor, had disputed the charge, saying the purchase was made solely by the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Foot-dragging is tantamount to inaction by the Office of the Ombudsman, which aided in the misuse of PDAF, Joson said.

“Because of the Ombudsman’s inaction, the procedures I exposed [which led to] the misuse of the PDAF were [concealed] from concerned officials and the public,” he said.

Joson filed graft and corruption charges against Umali for violating the government procurement law when P15 million of Umali’s PDAF financed “overcharged fertilizers which allegedly cost 15 times their actual price.”

Napoles NGO

Joson said the purchase was coursed through a bogus foundation, the Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. (Mamfi), that turned out to belong to Napoles.

A copy of the complaint showed that Joson’s complaint was received by the records section of the Ombudsman for Luzon on June 2, 2008. The Inquirer also obtained a copy of the counteraffidavit of Umali filed in the Office of the Ombudsman.

In his complaint, Joson said the mayor of Gabaldon and the municipal agriculturist of Gen. Natividad received 7,920 bottles of liquid fertilizers bearing the brand name “Nutro Ocean Fish Liquid Fertilizer.”

He said the fertilizers were secured for a “production assistance project” that was facilitated by the DA office in Central Luzon and Mamfi through a memorandum of agreement signed by its president, Marina Sula, and by then acting DA regional director, Renato Manantan.

Each fertilizer bottle was valued at P1,500 per liter. Umali’s PDAF purchased P11.8 million worth of the fertilizers. The PDAF, which was released to the DA Central Luzon in 2005, also financed the Mamfi administrative support staff amounting to P120,000.

Affidavits from farmers appear to support Joson’s claims.

In their notarized affidavits, four farmer-beneficiaries in Barangay Tagumpay in Gabaldon said they paid P50 each for the liquid fertilizers “as contribution to their town government.” The farmers, Romeo Abesamis, Nathaniel Balajadia, Andy Cando and Ernesto Fernandez, said they have an unsigned receipt from the people who distributed the fertilizers.

“The fertilizers were a big help for us because of the high cost of farm operations,” they said in their affidavit. But they said they soon discovered that the fertilizers were “overpriced by 10 to 15 percent.”

Attractive price

“We did not hesitate to pay the P50 as it was much less than its price in the market,” the farmers said.

Cesario Dayao, Pablo Pangilinan, Nicanor Santos and Crisostomo Soriano, farmer-beneficiaries from Gen. Natividad, said in their joint affidavit that they received free bottles of fertilizers from their municipal agricultural officers.

Like the Gabaldon farmers, they said the fertilizers they received were being sold in the market for P100 to P150 per liter.

“I did not know then that Mamfi was among the bogus foundations of Napoles. I will also file charges against Sula,” Joson said.

In another complaint, Joson said Umali’s PDAF was used for “technical assistance for livelihood projects and for the supply of irrigation pumps.”

It was implemented through Samahan ng mga Manininda ng Prutas sa Gabi Inc. with a funding of P3 million.

“The cost of the diesel and water pumps ballooned to P120,000 each which was beyond the actual price of P45,000 to P55,000 each,” Joson said.

Not his fault

In his reply to the Ombudsman, Umali denied involvement in the anomalies. “The memorandum of agreement (between Mamfi and DA) would reveal that I have not participated nor did I commit any single [violation] of the law [against corrupt practices of public officers],” he said.

“The only role of a representative is to recommend priority projects,” Umali said in his counteraffidavit.