LINGAYEN–Former Governor Victor Agbayani, now representative of the 2nd District, said his administration did not avail of the controversial P720 million fertilizer fund in 2005 but admitted that an offer was made.

“We wanted to utilize the fund for farm-to-market roads, post harvest or irrigation facilities. But we were told we could not. So we declined the fund,” Agbayani told The PUNCH.

The fund is now the subject of another senate inquiry since the return of then Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Joc-joc Bolante, the alleged architect of the misuse of the fund for the re-election of President Arroyo.

The former governor and the congressmen in the province were listed as among the recipients of allocations from the controversial fund.

The former governor further said they did not want to use the type of fertilizer set under the fund as the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist advised that it was not suitable for the province’s farmers.

Agbayani also said they had questions about the non-government organization that was supposed to implement the project.

He, however, did not identify the NGO tasked to distribute the funds.

“We did not want to be held accountable for funds and a project where the implementation of which was beyond our control,” Agbayani said.

Agbayani called on the media to be prudent in reporting about the controversy, particularly with regard to those who availed and allegedly took advantage of the fund.

“What is unfair about the list released is that everybody is there including those who did not avail of the fund,” he added.

Besides Agbayani, no other Pangasinan official has clarified whether he or she received their respective listed allocations or not. #

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments