Buyers of Capitol's sheep tell provincial vet: Return our money

TWO businessmen who were among the pioneers in buying Capitol's imported sheep from Australia are asking the provincial veterinarian to cancel the purchase agreement and reimburse them for the sheep's purchase price, which they said was overpriced.

Rafael "Nene" Abello and Aurelio "Lito" Lacson expressed their sentiments in separate letters last week to Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Renante Decena, with a copy furnished to Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr.

In his letter dated February 25, 2013, Abello said he was disappointed after having been furnished by a trusted source of the material data regarding the overpriced purchase.

Abello also stated in the same letter that he was totally disappointed to know that a mark-up of at least 300 percent per farm gate price of one breeder head was added, resulting in an estimated overprice of P5,000-P8,000 per head of livestock, excluding incidental expenses.

He said he was also informed just very recently about other private individuals who were given breeder ewes and rams with no cash equivalent for them to raise or breed this livestock as part of the Capitol's dispersal program.

Abello expressed further his regret in engaging in said livestock contract because, as stated in his letter, he paid in cash for the 21 heads of sheep at a total cost of P357,600 on a quotation that was based on overpriced purchase while other private sectors were recently granted said livestock for free.

On the other hand, Aurelio Lacson in his letter dated February 27, 2013 conveyed his disappointment for having purchased said livestock which proceeds from an overpriced transaction abroad.

"After making a simple comparison of prices based on the information from Australian sheep breeders I received, I was surprised to know that one breeder ewe in Australia of about the same age and weight I bought from you would only cost AUD$65 or a little less than P3,000 and a ram would only cost around AUD$100 or P4,591 per head," Lacson stated in his letter.

"This shows that, when the sheep arrives in Bredco Port, Bacolod City, its price multiplied to four times which is entirely extraordinary and shocking, as it is impossible for the incidental expenses covering freight, insurances, and other fees to cost at least three times higher than the farmgate price of each sheep when bought from source," he pointed out.

On the same note, Lacson shared his observation on the sheep dispersal program of the Capitol and said, "Aside from this, I was also informed that, per Capitol's sheep dispersal program, several heads of sheep were recently distributed to interested private sectors free-of-charge while I was made to pay in cash and, what is worse, pay the sheep's worth that was overly exorbitant than the prevailing price in the Australian market."

For the said purchase, Lacson said he has fully paid the price of livestock consisting of 21 heads for P345,000.

In view of this recent development, the two businessmen expressed their intention to get back their money's worth through restitution after the cancellation of the purchase agreement or through proper reimbursement of the amount commensurate to the overprice, and further insisted that an investigation be conducted to shed light to what they said is an irregular transaction.