An alliance of Central Luzon farmer’s groups has urged Congress to start investigating the allegedly overpriced P1.8-billion fertilizer deal of the Department of Agriculture, especially in light of reports that the winning bidder for the region had failed to deliver its supply commitment due last month.
“The House of Representatives and the Senate must push through with their respective investigations,” said Joseph Canlas, chairman of the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon.
“The Department of Agriculture has been covering up this mess. But clearly the supply contracts were not only overpriced, the winning bidder also failed to deliver on time,” Canlas said.
The supply contracts for urea fertilizer were part of a P5.69 billion procurement under the DA’s emergency stimulus program Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat Kontra COVID-19 (ALPAS sa COVID-19).
In May, the first contracts were awarded to La Filipina Uy Gongco Corp. for Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Western Visayas and Atlas Fertilizer Central Visayas.
However, La Filipina Uy Gongco, as of July 17, has only been able to deliver 200,000 bags of urea, or a little over 20 percent out of the 911,073 bags that it is obligated to deliver in full by the end of June.
Under the term of reference for the purchase of urea fertilizers for Rice Resiliency Project, Canlas noted that the winning bidder/supplier is obligated to deliver 50 percent of the contracted fertilizer within May 2020, and the remaining half within June 2020.
“Clearly, this delay in the delivery of urea fertilizer will have an impact on the planting period. Farmers should have already started planting two months ago, especially those who have access to irrigation systems. They are late (for planting) if there’s no fertilizer until now,” Canlas lamented.
Some party-list lawmakers have already sought a joint inquiry of the House Committees on Agriculture and Food and Good Government and Public Accountability on the questionable procurement.
The lawmakers cited monitoring done by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, which showed that the average retail price of urea in the regions covered by the supply contracts were lower by as much as P150 per bag (Tarlac at P850 per bag, Nueva Ecija at P830 to P870 per bag and Iloilo at P880 per bag).
At the Senate, Agriculture committee chairperson Senator Cynthia Villar said she is committed to investigate the alleged overpriced fertilizer supply contracts.
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