Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) director Dr. Dionisio Alvindia has defended the appointment of eight PhilMech personnel to higher posts, saying the nominations were meant to stop corruption in the agency.
Alvindia asserted that the new appointees were highly qualified to the positions of deputy directors and division chiefs since all of them were PhilMech officials, contrary to allegations that they were outsiders and non-PHilMech personnel that lack experience in the field of agriculture.
He said the eight PHilMech officials who were relieved from their posts were involved in irregularities that caused the delay in the implementation of projects that were supposed to benefit hundreds of Filipino farmers in the country.
“Four of the affected PHilMech officers were linked to the tractor case, and are now under preventive suspension to avoid them from interfering in the ongoing investigation against them,” he said.
Alvindia also said the four other affected PHilMech officials were likewise under probe for allegedly delaying the implementation of various projects being undertaken by the agency.
He also noted that the eight PHilMech officials being investigated for alleged corruption have applied for the positions of director, deputy directors and division chiefs.
Alvindia claimed that the reshuffle and appointment of new personnel was part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s. program to rid the government of unscrupulous and corrupt personnel under his administration.
He said the suspension of the eight PHilMech officials prevented corruption in the implementation of the PhilMech Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) mechanization program.
Alvindia, who assumed office in March 2022, asserted that laws will be strictly followed in the procurement of tractors under the RCEF mechanization program, and vowed to cleanse the agency of corrupt personnel.
The PhilMech director assured the government of the agency’s faithful adherence to the ideals and vision of the RCEF-Mechanization Program and to the requisite norms of honesty and integrity in the conduct of its transactions under the program.
So far, 682,502 farmers nationwide have become recipients of the RCEF-Mechanization Program as of December 2021. Also, of the 19,542 units of machinery acquired under the program, 16,167 have been distributed to farmer-beneficiaries.