Where will billions for rice go?'

Malacañang asked to itemize spending

SEN. Francis Escudero yesterday called for an "itemized spending" of the billions of pesos Malacañang has ordered released to stave off a rice crisis.

"This will make for easy monitoring of funds, make their recipients accountable, and prevent farm-to-market road funds from becoming farm-to-pocket funds," said Escudero, chair of the Senate ways and means panel.

"With funds for agriculture now flowing like water in an irrigation canal, the government should make public where, for how much, and for what purpose will the money be spent," he added.

President Arroyo on Tuesday said she would issue an administrative order allowing government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs) to use 5 percent of their savings of at least P100 billion in 2007 for rice production and other pro-poor projects. She also ordered the agriculture department to coordinate with local government units in tapping their surplus last year amounting to P32 billion.

Escudero said itemized spending would remove "the chaff from the grain, the propaganda from what's real."

He said "pinpoint spending" is the key to avoiding wastage. He noted farm funds are by nature hard to track, "as fertilizer is soluble in water, seeds can disappear under the soil, and the proof of canal desilting is underwater."

Escudero also criticized President Arroyo's decision to retain the tariff on rice, saying if the tariff is passed on to consumers, the price of rice will "shoot to the roof at between P46 and P48 a kilo."

He expressed belief the decision was motivated by the desire to "spruce up" government's revenue report card because it wants to continue booking National Food Authority tariff payments as revenues.

"This window-dressing will pad tax collection by about P30 billion, through the ridiculous practice of treating DBM releases for rice duties as Customs collection, which is a self-deluding exercise because it merely transfers money from the government's right pocket to the left," Escudero said.

At the House, Rep. Abraham Mitra (NP, Palawan) asked Arroyo to create the post of deputy ombudsman for agriculture following the release of billions of funds.

He said a deputy ombudsman for agriculture "is a tripwire against misdeeds."

While some Ombudsman personnel are already assigned at the DA, "an Ombudsman detachment headed by a deputy ombudsman will show that government means business in seeing to it that rice funds, like rice, are not wasted," he said.

Mitra noted the P62 billion projected cost of rice imports for this year is bigger than the defense department's 2008 allocation of P51 billion, of which P49.1 billion is for the Armed Forces.

Other available funds include the P20.5 billion for the DA from the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, P2.5 billion in "budgetary support" to DA-attached agencies, and P3.5 billion in regular agency funds. - Dennis Gadil and Wendell Vigilia

First:	Acts 5:27-33
Resp:	Psalm 34:2,9,17-20
Gospel:	John 3:31-36