A Bacolod resident is asking the Office of the City Mayor of Bacolod City to conduct an inquiry on whether the small farmers in the city have indeed benefited from the liquid fertilizer program of the government. In his letter to Mayor Evelio Leonardia dated March 26, 2007, Narciso San Miguel claimed that Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella had received P8 million from the Department of Agriculture for the purchase of foliar fertilizer in 2004.

San Miguel said that, based on an affidavit of Jose Barredo Jr., who testified before the Senate Committee on Agriculture and the Blue Ribbon Committee, the solon failed to account for all the P8 million worth of liquid fertilizer he received for Bacolod City.

He said records from the DA regional office showed that only a meager 1,167 one-liter bottles of liquid fertilizer have been distributed to some recipients whose names appear to be either simulated or falsified.

San Miguel said Barangay Captain Margarita Descalsota of Brgy. 28 and Sangguninag Kabataan chairman Patrick Halili of Brgy. 26, whose names appeared in the liquidation report submitted to the DA regional office, have denied signing such document or having received any liquid fertilizer from the office of the congressman.

COA REPORTS OVER PRICE

He also said that, based on a 38-page Commission on Audit report on the P728 million GMA Farm Input Fund (from which the liquid fertilizer was sourced) an alleged skyrocketing overprice was made by the MOP Development Foundation Inc., which is associated with the solon and his family.

San Miguel said page 15 of the COA report states that the MOP Foundation bought fertilizer amounting to P3 million when the actual cost should have been only P420,000, or an overprice of P2.76 million. He said the foundation claimed it bought 2,400 one-liter bottles of foliar fertilizer for Bacolod farmers amounting to P1,250 each.

COA investigators, however, discovered that the one-liter bottles should cost only P100 each, San Miguel said. He said this means Puentevella has to account for a total of at least P8.76 million out of the total P11 million fund released to him and his foundation. This is aside from the fact that only 1,167 one-liter bottles of fertilizers were delivered and many supposed recipients were either simulated or falsified, he added.

Meanwhile, Eric Tenerife, Puentevella's media liaison, said the issues against the solon appear to be orchestrated. He said they are trying to verify the authenticity of the letter and whether San Miguel really exists.

Tenerife said he believes the cases are orchestrated since City Legal Officer Allan Zamora had earlier declared that he will file a case against Puentevella and suddenly another person complains about the fertilizer. He said if there are alleged irregularities in the transactions, the office of Puentevella does not handle money.

Tenerife said the solon simply recommends or identifies projects and it is the DA in the case of the fertilizer, and the Department of Education, in the case of the IT Packages that handles the bidding, the whole transaction and the actual payment of the equipment and fertilizer bought.

He said the issues on the liquid fertilizer are mere innuendos based on an affidavit of only one person.

Tenerife said Zamora claimed that he is filing a case involving the purchase of IT packages and what he is doing is a concoction of issues aimed at harassing Puentevella politically. Puentevella could not be reached for his reaction.*CGS

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