An umbrella group of agricultural organizations and the Abono party-list said they will ask the office of Senator Cynthia Villar to conduct a legislative inquiry into the alleged failure of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to pay at least P100 million worth of fertilizers it owes dealers from Region 1.
The dealers participated in DA’s fertilizer subsidy program that provided a P2,000 fertilizer voucher for farmers planting inbred rice varieties and P3,000 for those planting hybrid rice.
“Some dealers can no longer serve the farmers because they have yet to receive payment from the DA. Where will the farmers turn to for their fertilizer needs? And how long must these dealers who have advanced their supply wait for the payment to arrive?” said Rosendo So, president of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) and Abono party-list chair.
“We are sending a formal letter of request to Senator Villar today (Monday) as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. The budget is there, so why is there a hold up at the DA?” he added.
Earlier, Ronnie Cabanizas, spokesman of Association of Fertilizer and Pesticides, Distribution, Dealers and outlet of Pangasinan (AFPDOP), complained to SINAG that they have not been paid by the DA for the fertilizers they already delivered to farmer-beneficiaries amounting to P100 million, despite the availability of the funds.
So said for Region 1, another P300 million worth of vouchers have been released to farmers, but the farmers complained that when they presented the voucher to the authorized fertilizer outlets to get the subsidy, the merchant told them that they cannot serve them since the DA has not yet paid them of their previous request for payouts for previously delivered fertilizers.
The SINAG president also said that they received similar grievances from authorized fertilizer dealers in other regions, where the National Rice Program – Fertilizer Discount Vouchers to Rice Farmers” is being implemented, who are also experiencing similar problem of DA’s non-payment of their collectibles arising from their participation to the agency’s fertilizer’s discount vouchers.
“The DA accredited fertilizer dealers can no longer serve the farmer-beneficiaries because the department has not yet paid them of their collectibles, which they badly needed in order to buy new supplies of fertilizer so they can continue to serve the other farmers who are also recipients of the DA’s fertilizer vouchers,” the Sinag official lamented.
He said DA’s failure to settle its obligations with the dealers may result in the non-distribution of the remaining P400 million worth of fertilizers under its rice resiliency program.
“Why can’t the DA pay the dealers of the fertilizers already given to rice farmer-beneficiaries under the government’s fertilizer’s subsidy program when the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines confirms the availability of the funds?” the SINAG official asked.
The ABONO party-list chairman noted that before this, it only took for the DA about five days to settle their obligations after the dealers made the transmittal of their billings for fertilizers they delivered to farmer-recipients.
Through the DA’s project entitled “National Rice Program – Fertilizer Discount Vouchers to Rice Farmers”, farmer-beneficiaries will be allowed to claim inorganic fertilizers using discount vouchers
