DA director: I did not know fund was for rice program

Agriculture regional director Eduardo Lecciones yesterday said he would not have released the funds intended for rice farmers had he known in the first place that it was intended for rice.

Lecciones, in a press conference at the DA compound, nodded silently when pressed for an answer if the fund release was irregular. "Had I known that it was for rice, I wouldn't have implemented it in the first place," was his tacit reply.

Lecciones told reporters that he learned from the higher DA office lately that the fund was for hybrid rice commercialization program but when he received the notice of the availability of funds in 2003, the stated intention was for farm inputs-farm implements (FiFi), or basically for fertilizers.

The P9-million given to the DA Regional Field Unit 7 was part of the P100 million intended for FiFi, along with the P394-million for rice commercialization program, and P50 million for the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Lecciones said granting that the fund was for FiFi or fertilizer, there was nothing wrong with the implementation because everything was well documented.

Lecciones testified at a recent Senate hearing on the matter that P3-million was each received by Cebu's third district of Rep. Antonio Yapha, Cebu's second district of Rep. Simeon Kintanar, and Cebu City's south district of Rep. Antonio Cuenco.

Two conditions were mentioned in the disbursement of the fund, either through a local government unit or an accredited non-government organization, said Lecciones.

He said only Kintanar chose to release his share of the fund to an LGU, specifically Argao town, through Mayor Wilfredo Caminero. The other two solons, Yapha and Cuenco, did not mention any LGU as a beneficiary prompting the DA to choose which from a list of seven accredited non-government organizations.

Lecciones explained his choice of Kasosyo Foundation Incorporated saying it was the only Cebu-based organization while the rest are all in Luzon. He added that he could vouch for Kasosyo's track record, for which the DA had been dealing with on several projects since 2002.

But the DA official could not ascertain the identity of Kasosyo's incorporators, saying the DA only checks the legality of the documents of an NGO seeking accreditation.

"Well, as long as family name is concerned, I do not see the name of Yapha in the list of incorporators. We do not really bother as long as it is legal. We are concerned with the implementation and we are satisfied," Lecciones said.

Kasosyo's implementation of the fund release showed that five barangays (Toong, Pamutan, Sudlon I, Sudlon II and Lusaran) were the recipients involving 875 farmer-beneficiaries.

In Yapha's district, Aloguinsan and Asturias towns were the recipients with 752 farmer-beneficiaries, and 42 barangays in Argao town involving 840 farmers.

Lecciones said all documents he had presented in the Senate hearing are now with the Commission on Audit.

Meanwhile, the militant Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas-Cebu urged the three Cebuano congressmen, implicated in the controversial hybrid rice program, to waive their legal immunities and submit themselves to the ongoing investigation in the Senate committee on agriculture.

KMP-cebu spokesperson Serge Repuela said Yapha, Cuenco and Kintanar should testify in committee hearing, chaired by Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., to shed light on whether there was irregularity in the fund appropriation and disbursement.

"We hope the Cebuano lawmakers will cross party lines, tell the public the truth and rise above occasion as the situation merits in the name of truth, justice and national interest," Repuela said.

KMP-Cebu alleged that the foundation chosen to implement the fund release has the same address and phone number of the clinic of Rep. Yapha.

But Rep. Yapha insisted there was no irregularity in the project, explaining that even if there are no rice lands in his district, still the funds went to the farmers planting other crops.

KMP-Cebu further asked Senator Magsaysay to subpoena the board of directors and officers of the Kasosyo Foundation and testify in the committee hearing about the issue. - Ferliza C. Contratista and Jasmin R. Uy