DA: Give machines to farmers

ONE of the agricultural machines left unused in DA offices nationwide is this farm tractor covered with tarpaulin in a DA lot in Tupi town, South Cotabato province. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

DAVAO CITY—Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol on Thursday said he had ordered the release to farmers  of some P2 billion  worth of agricultural machines, including water pumps that could have eased the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, that were kept in Department of Agriculture (DA) lots instead of being used to help poor farming communities.

The machines have been lying idle in DA lots after DA officials, during the Aquino administration, refused to hand them over to beneficiaries because the beneficiaries failed to produce equity funds equivalent to 15 percent of the machines’ costs.

“I confirm an earlier report that the total value of farm machineries and equipment, which have not been distributed to farmers or local government units, is a staggering P2 billion,” said Piñol.

The DA chief issued the order after inspecting a DA compound in Tupi town, South Cotabato, where machines intended for farmers were being kept, prompting him to describe it as “waste of money by a heartless government,” referring to the Aquino administration.

In a meeting on Wednesday, Piñol told DA officials that the machines, kept in DA lots or warehouses across the country, should be turned over to beneficiaries in two months.

Among the pieces of equipment inspected by Piñol were water pumps that could have helped thousands of farmers cope with El Niño in Central Mindanao, where the weather phenomenon destroyed at least 80,000 hectares of farms.

Also found by Piñol in the DA lot in Tupi were tractors and harvesters.

When Piñol asked DA officials in Central Mindanao why the machines were not used, he was told that farmers who were supposed to receive these failed to pay a cash bond equivalent to 15 percent of the machines’ cost, a requirement for getting the machines imposed by then Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

So if a farmers’ group stood to benefit from a P2.5-million tractor, it would have to pay P375,000, said Piñol.

The cash bond, said Piñol, was supposed to go to the dealer of the machine but Piñol said he did not understand why farmers even had to pay when the machines had already been bought by the government.

“The government does not procure on installment or partial payment basis,” said Piñol.

Piñol said he was told by DA regional officials, during their meeting on Wednesday, that other regional DA offices were also keeping more farm machines because the farmers who were supposed to get these had not paid up. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao