Now it can be told

Six months before I left my job at the Provincial Agriculture Office of Nueva Vizcaya, the Senate began its probe on the fertilizer scam. That was February 2006, I left end of September. Then Undersecretary Jocelyn "JocJoc" Bolante eluded the hotseat. Unfortunately for him, the United States hasn't allowed its tarnished reputation pulled down further by refusing to grant his asylum bid. Yesterday, Bolante became the "most famous wheelchair-bound balikbayan in the country," to quote former Senate President Franlin Drilon.

For farmers who pinned their hopes on the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani program to recover from the blows of rice importation that placed them in a cut-throat competition with cheap rice exporters, the funds were like promised blankets that never arrived when the cold months came.

By the end of 2005, the Commission on Audit has asked the provincial agriculturist of Nueva Vizcaya to explain if the province received agricultural inputs that it deemed overpriced. My boss asked me to draft a response informing COA that indeed the province received sacks of bacterial soil conditioners. These are not commercial fertilizers but bacterial agents that can hasten decomposition of organic matter in the soil. However, the supporting documents were all processed at the Department of Agriculture and we never had a chance to see them.

It turned out that such bacterial soil conditioners cost more than P13,000 per sack. Since the technology was new to farmers, very few technicians availed the inputs, and some were left to rot at the provincial nursery.

The picture of the GMA rice program has gone bleak. Melvin Gascon recently wrote a clear description of what's happening on the ground. The scam may not just be a mere fertilizer procurement mess but high priced agricultural machinery costing millions may be involved. This brings me back to the real story behind the murder of Marlene Garcia-Esperat, which until now justice remained elusive.

The Senate should really dig deeper and find out the other Jocjoc's in the agriculture department. The rice subsidy program and all other funds purportedly intended to cushion the impact of GATT in the agriculture sector should be subjected to a close scrutiny. Likewise, the implementation of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) should be reviewed. The architects of the fertilizer scam has largely used the AFMA to justify many of its deals.

I have seen quite a lot in the farms of agriculture officials who frequently leave their offices on the guise of "on-farm" visits. That should read "own-farm" visit.

Giving up a 10 year career in the civil service is nothing. Now, I could sleep well without worries that my department would be involved in a mess.