Anticrime group assails inaction on Pimentel speech

An anticrime watchdog group on Wednesday criticized top agriculture officials for failing to act on charges that an undersecretary played a key role in a scam in Surigao involving a bogus nongovernment organization (NGO) linked to alleged pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles.

According to whistle-blower Benhur Luy, the office of Agriculture Undersecretary for Administration and Finance Antonio Fleta facilitated letter-requests from lawmakers wishing to channel their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to the Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation Inc., a bogus NGO linked to Napoles.

Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) legal counsel Ariel Genaro Jawid, in a statement, said it was “incumbent upon Alcala to, at the very least, preventively suspend” Fleta so that the Department of Agriculture (DA) could conduct a fair and impartial investigation of charges leveled by Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, who denied signing documents for the use of his PDAF for a ghost project that was uncovered during the investigation of the scam.

“It has become increasingly apparent that Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala has turned a blind eye on the issues plaguing the department and appears to have exhibited lack of sincere intent to get to the bottom of the scams being cooked up in his agency,” said the VACC statement.

Pimentel, in a recent privilege speech, said he would sue those involved in a syndicate that had forged his signature on a memorandum of agreement that states that the senator’s office allocated close to P10 million to Surigao del Sur, charged to the DA’s Organic Agriculture Fund.

Jawid earlier urged the Senate blue ribbon committee to focus its investigation on the pork barrel fund scam’s effects on the agriculture sector.

Aside from Fleta, several DA officials have also been accused of involvement in the channeling of PDAF and DA funds to NGOs linked to Napoles. Among them are assistant secretaries Salvador Salacup and Ophelia Agawin, who chaired the committee in charge of accrediting NGOs.

Surigao del Sur Gov. Johnny Pimentel has confirmed that the province was a recipient of P9.6 million from the DA, which was disowned by Pimentel. With a report from Danilo Adorador, Inquirer Mindanao