Press Release
November 11, 2008

ROXAS: FERTILIZER SCAM ROBBED P4,OOO/FARMER

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said the P728-million fertilizer fund scam of the Arroyo Administration in 2004 robbed P4,369 worth of free fertilizer from at least 170,000 farmers nationwide, a clear indication of how the administration misuses funds allocated by Congress.

Roxas said this is the prime reason why the country continues to suffer from rice shortages and a prime factor why many Filipinos in rural communities and even in urban areas suffer from chronic hunger.

"Masasabi natin na itong nararanasang gutom ng ating kababayan ayon sa mga survey ay sanhi ng pangungurakot ng fertilizer. Kasi kung tama ang paggastos nito, masagana yung aanihin natin ngayon, at hindi magkakaroon ng pagtaas ng presyo sa palay at bigas (The people's widespread hunger as reported in the surveys, is due to corruption in the procurement of fertilizer. Because if the fertilizer funds were spent properly, we would have had a bountiful harvest and the price of rice would not have had increased)," he said in a radio interview.

"Hindi ito teorya lamang, ito ay diretso sa tiyan ng ating mga kababayan. (This is not merely a theory, it is felt by our people in their stomachs)" he added.

He said studies he conducted showed that the P728-million could have been used to purchase six bags of urea, a fertilizer commonly used by Filipino farmers, covering 166,616 hectares of farmland.

Filipino farmers usually farm one hectare or smaller plots of land, indicating the money diverted to President Arroyo's campaign in 2004 denied almost 170,000 farmers of the free fertilizer that Congress intended for them, Roxas said.

"Kung hindi sana tinarantado ng administrasyon ang ating mga magsasaka ay baka mas maganda ang produksyon ng bigas sa ating bansa (If this administration did not mistreat our farmers, we would have had a good rice production volume)," he fumed.

As author of the Senate resolution reopening the Senate investigation into the fertilizer scam following the return to the country of former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante, Roxas will be the first to grill the former undersecretary who is accused of masterminding the diversion of the P728-million fertilizer fund into President Arroyo's campaign.

"Gagawin natin ang lahat para malaman ang buong istorya at nang matapos na ang kontrobersiyang ito (I will do everything to unearth the true story behind this so the controversy will finally end)," he said.

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