Editorial
The ‘GMA’ scam
ONE story that came out in The Sunday PUNCH in its October 29, 2006 issue, datelined Mangaldan, had the lead: Is there another agri scam in progress?
From the looks of things now almost two years later, the answer to that seems to be a resounding “Yes”.
A Commission on Audit report issued recently indicates irregularities in the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program, exactly the program that was being referred to in The PUNCH story.
The GMA program, a rather obvious allusion to the President’s initials, is a nationwide campaign intended to improve the earnings of farmers in pilot areas (which includes Mangaldan among other areas in Pangasinan) by providing them with hybrid rice, certified seeds, fertilizer and other farm inputs.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap has promised that his department will conduct an investigation on the matter. The investigation, which was prompted by an order from President GMA whom Press Secretary Jesus Dureza quoted as saying she will not allow corrupt officials to go unpunished, will center on municipal agricultural officials, according to Yap who did not fail to point out that these public servants report directly to the local governments, i.e. the mayors.
We would like to believe that Yap, and GMA for that matter, is sincere in his pronouncements about getting to the bottom of this new agricultural scandal. But we are not getting our hopes high up. At least not until the 2004-2005 fertilizer scam is resolved because this could very well stand as one of the mothers of all scams in agriculture, an industry that, lest we forget, involves the most basic of our needs – food.
The fact that the people implicated in that major corruption scandal remain unpunished continues to embolden officials in the bureaucracy to simply copy and apply the same modus operandi for misappropriating funds. Until this particular issue is settled, accountable public officials brought behind bars, there will be no end to the widespread looting of public funds.
Already, talks are rife that officials from Yap’s Department of Agriculture are in cahoots with local government officials in raising campaign chests for the 2010 elections.
The GMA and agri scam appears to be continually in progress.
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