CABANATUAN CITY — The Department of Agriculture was urged by a huge farmers organization in Central Luzon to scrap its purportedly negotiated contract with an unnamed supplier of fertilizer, citing alleged overpricing.
Rosendo So, chair of the multi-sectoral group Samahang Industriya at Agrikulrura (Sinag) said procuring urea fertilizer at P1,000 per bag is utterly disadvantageous to the government when the retail price is at around P850.
“Kung government procurement at emergency, dapat i-canvass yan sa labas yun ang sundan,” So said.
He claimed that the price of fertilizer has been stable in the last two months thus the government’s floor price should have been at P800 only.
The DA reportedly negotiated for P1,000 per bag under its stimulus program Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat Kontra Covid-19 (Alpas Covid-19) sometime in April.
“Dapat ay ibaba ang presyo, kundi e malaking sakit ng ulo yan,” So warned.
Lawyer Romeo Evangelista noted that the winning bidder got the deal at P998 a bag when the prevailing retail price during the time was somewhere between P830 to P860 and at no time breached P900 a bag.
“Kung titingnan po natin, ang laki ng difference dun sa prevailing price,” Evangelista stressed, noting that the DA procures in bulk. “This defied the purpose of bidding.”
Earlier, Central Luzon farmers slammed DA for “callously approving an overpriced P1.8–billion fertilizer contract at a time when the government is scrambling for funds to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Farmers William Laureta of Tarlac and Ernesto Agustin Domingo of Nueva Ecija slammed what they called “anomalous purchase.”
“Farmers could barely survive this crisis, and even the government is virtually scraping the bottom of the barrel now just to look for funds to help the most vulnerable sectors, including farmers, and to keep the economy afloat,” Laureta said in Filipino.
The Agriculture department conducted a series of bidding for the procurement of 1,811,090 bags of urea fertilizers for P1.8 billion. This translates to a price of at least P1,000 per bag, the farmers said.
Compared to the prevailing average retail price in the market of urea fertilizer is pegged only at P850 per bag — which would mean that the deal was overpriced by at least P271.66 million, they said.
Pursuant to Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the DA allocated P5.69 billion for the procurement of 5,691,477 bags of urea fertilizers at a price of P1,000 per bag.
The fertilizers should have been distributed to farmers in various regions during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine.
According to reports, after holding a bidding on April 29, the DA issued on May 5 a Notice of Award to La Filipina Uy Gongco Corp. for the delivery of 97,615 bags of urea at P990 per bag or a total amount of P96,638,850 for Region 4A, and 694,904 bags at P995 per bag or P691,429,480 intended for Region 6, or for a combined amount of P788,068,330.
After a separate bidding on May 4, the DA issued on May 8 another Notice of Award to La Filipina Uy Gongco for the supply and delivery of 911,073 bags of urea fertilizers at P995 per bag, which would be intended for distribution to farmers in Region 3, in the total amount of P906,517,635.
A separate Notice of Award was also issued by the DA to Atlas Fertilizer for the delivery of 107,498 bags of urea at a price of P900 per bag or a total of P96,748,200 for Region 7.
