IRREGULARITIES CITED IN DAIRY PROJECT

THE claim published in the advertisement “Cojuangco Updates” published in the June 21 issue of The PUNCH, regarding the Dairy Farm project in Laoac, has rankled the group that filed cases against Alcala officials over the irregular use of the tobacco excise taxes.

Members of the Save Pangasinan Movement (SPM) have made their issues known in an “Open Letter” to former Congressman Mark Cojuangco to dispute several points highlighted in the published claim.

SPM Secretary General Pluto Cabalteja vehemently questioned the regularity of the project being touted by the former congressman as one of the projects funded under the Tobacco Excise Tax when in fact, the facility is presently not functioning the way it was described in the advertisement.

The movement, speaking for the Pangasinan farmers, seeks answers from Cojuangco to the following questions:

Is it valid to use the Tobacco Excise Tax in constructing a Dairy Farm?

Who is the rightful owner of the Dairy Farm in Laoac, Pangasinan?

What is the exact cost of the project including the purchase of imported cows and processing equipment?

If there are 400 existing cows (as what the advertisement stated), is proper accounting and auditing being done to determine its daily income since its establishment?

Is the property legally titled?

The SPM likewise stated in its letter what it called “injustice created by the ‘unfair sharing’ of the excise tax” which directly affected the marginalized Pangasinan farmers, particularly in the 5^th district, who were allegedly denied more than P1billion as their share in the Tobacco Excise Tax share.

It was allegedly Cojuangco who took charge in the monetization of the excise tax reportedly as president of the League of Native and Burley Tobacco Growing LGUs Inc.

SPM has urged the former congressman to clarify the issues based on the questions it raised for the benefit of “the thousands of Pangasinan farmers who deserve to know the truth.”

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