Friday, November 14, 2008 Villarama denies receiving fertilizer fund
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Former Bulacan Second District Representative Wilfredo Villarama has denied receiving any money from the P728-million fertilizer fund in 2004, which was originally intended for farm development and projects in the country.
"I will resign from humanity if proven having received P5 million from the so-called fertilizer fund," Villarama on Thursday said.
Villarama was among those listed in the Special Allotment Release Order (Saro) in 2004 as alleged beneficiary of the fertilizer fund.
In 2004, Mindanao-based journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat exposed the alleged involvement of former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante in the fertilizer fund scam. Esperat was later murdered.
Among those in the said list where 11 former Central Luzon congressmen, which include former Pampanga Third District Representative Oscar Rodriguez, former Pampanga Second District representative Zenaida Ducut, Villarama and others. Each of the listed names allegedly received P3 million to P5 million.
Villarama, who was listed as a recipient of P5 million from the fund, said he did not ask for any funding from the Department of Agriculture (DA) for fertilizer.
"I did not get any notice from the DA and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that I have been allotted P5 million and did not receive funds for the purchase of fertilizer," Villarama said.
Villarama said the agencies investigating the case should be accurate in reporting their findings to avoid destroying the reputations of people and public officials.
The other day, Rodriguez, now the city mayor here, clarified that what he received when he was still congressman were fertilizers, not money.
The P728-million fund was allegedly "downloaded" by Bolante, who appeared for the first time in the Senate hearing on the issue Thursday.
The Senate is investigating the alleged diversion of the funds originally intended for the procurement of farm implements to farmers.
The said funds were allegedly distributed among 105 congressmen, 53 governors, and 23 mayors.
Commission on Audit (COA) Director Flerida Jimenez reaffirmed the irregularities on the distribution of fertilizer funds by the DA on Wednesday's hearing on the same issue at the House of Representatives.
Based on the COA's findings, some lawmakers and local government officials indeed received money or farm inputs, which was part of the P728-million fertilizer fund.
Jimenez said based on the COA's findings, at least P250 million went to provincial governments, P404 million to congressional districts, and P65 million to municipalities.
Fifty-nine percent of the total amount has not been liquidated since September 2005.
"We cannot say how much exactly was already liquidated now. We still need to check on our auditors the updated report on the fund," the COA official said.
Jimenez also admitted that the COA report was done only up to the regional field units of the DA, and that more than half of the total amount went to local government officials. (IOF)
