CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Anakpawis party-list labelled yesterday Pres. Aquino as “a coddler of plunderers” for his “refusal to abolish the corruption-tainted pork barrel system and his reluctance to axe agricultural officials involved in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.”
“Aquino’s outright rejection of the people’s demand to abolish, and his continuing utilization of the graft-ridden pork barrel system, further fuels the culture of impunity in the plunder of public funds,” said KMP Deputy Secretary General Willy Marbella.
Marbella said “the President’s reluctance to fire top agriculture officials involved in the pork barrel scam is tantamount to a blanket approval in the continuing plunder of agriculture funds.”
The KMP reiterated calls for the resignation of Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala and three other top agriculture officials who are all implicated in the pork barrel scam and plunder of funds intended for farmers and agriculture.
“We demand Alcala and his gang to step down, submit to an independent investigation, and be accountable for plunder,” Marbella said, citing Agriculture Assistant Secretary Ophelia Agawin and Undersecretaries Antonio Fleta and Claron Alcantara.
Marbella lamented “the schematic plunder of billions of agricultural funds ensued at the top level. And, given the magnitude of the scam, the plunder would not have happened without the knowledge and consent of Alcala and his gang.”
Alcala earlier said Agawin had been replaced as head of the accreditation panel to ensure that she would not have undue influence on the on-going investigation.
Alcala also admitted that P83.2 million was allotted to Kaupdanan para sa Mangunguma Foundation (KMFI), whose president was John Raymond de Asis, allegedly the driver-bodyguard of Janet Lim-Napoles.
“Relieving Agawin is not enough. Her co-plunderers remain at the DA to clean up the crime scene and enjoy the spoils. A platoon substitution in the DA is in order,” Marbella stressed, in reiteration of an earlier statement.
He noted that pork barrel scam whistle-blower Merlina Suñas had implicated Alcala’s office as a key facilitator in funnelling government funds to at least two dummy non-government organizations (NGOs) allegedly formed by Napoles.
Napoles, the alleged leader of a network of 20 bogus NGOs, had been an occasional visitor of Agawin and Fleta, her immediate boss, at their second floor office in Quezon City since 2011.
Marbella also recalled that Suñas had accused Agawin of being a conduit of a web of fake NGOs controlled by Napoles. Reports also said that Fleta was among a core group of officials from Quezon province who were brought to the department by Alcala when he took over in 2010. Upon his entry, Alcala reappointed Agawin and promoted her assistant secretary in February 2012.
He also noted that in 2008, when Alcala was still Quezon representative he and Alcantara, were charged in the Ombudsman for disbursing P3.5 million in pork barrel funds to a dubious NGO.
Alcala allegedly allocated the money to the Alcantara’s family-run NGO, Sir Pelagio Alcantara Development (Spade) Foundation Inc., which made a commitment to give P50,000 each in capital assistance to 65 farmer families, a number of whom later denied receiving the amount.
The KMP also called for the immediate and full disclosure of DA and Department of Agrarian Reform-accredited NGOs. Based on a Commission on Audit (COA) report, the KMFI, received P75 million from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) supposedly for farmer- beneficiaries in Pangasinan, Benguet, and Pampanga.
“These DA and DAR-accredited NGOs, bogus or not, should be held accountable for the taxpayer’s money they ‘downloaded’ from the Aquino government’s coffers through the DA. NGOs who fail to account should be blacklisted, charged, and sent behind bars for plunder,” said Marbella.
