Lapid, 5 others charged over fertilizer scam

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Lito Lapid was charged yesterday with graft before the Sandiganbayan for his alleged involvement in the 2004 fertilizer fund scam when he was governor of Pampanga.

Charged with Lapid were provincial accountant Benjamin Yuzon and provincial treasurer Vergel Yabut, Malayan Pacific Trading Corp. (MPTC) incorporators Ma. Victoria Aquino-Abubakar and Leolita Aquino and D.A. Vazquez Macro-Micro Fertilizer Resources proprietor Dexter Alexander Vasquez.

The case against Lapid and his co-respondents arose from the Pampanga provincial government’s purchase of 3,880 bottles of fertilizer at P1,250 per liter/bottle in May 2004 using funds of the Department of Agriculture (DA) under the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program without conducting a public bidding.

As governor, Lapid allegedly approved the procurement and issued a certification that “there was no suitable fertilizer substitute with the same quality” and that the mode of procurement would be direct purchase from  exclusive distributor MPTC.

Ombudsman investigators found that Lapid, Yuzon and Yabut had committed  several violations of   procurement rules when “they entered into a transaction that was grossly and manifestly disadvantageous… because the government paid P4,761,818.18 (P4,850,000 less net of tax of P88,181.82) without ensuring that the government benefits from the best products/services available from the market at the best price.”

The respondents committed the act of purchasing the fertilizers in complete disregard of Republic Act 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), the anti-graft agency said.

With a public bidding, the provincial government could have purchased a fertilizer of equal or better quality than Macro-Micro Foliar Fertilizer at a lesser or competitive cost, ombudsman investigators said.

The price of the fertilizers bought were 1,000 percent higher than other fertilizers of the same kind, they added.

Acting Deputy Special Prosecutor Omar Sagadal has recommended bail of P30,000 for Lapid.