AGRICULTURE Secretary William D. Dar brushed off claims of overpriced fertilizer distributed to farmers, saying the Department of Agriculture (DA) followed government procurement rules.
In a virtual briefing Tuesday, Mr. Dar said that the urea fertilizer approved budget was P1,000 per 50 kilogram bag, citing estimates by the DA Field Operations Service.
According to Mr. Dar, P1,000 for a 50 kilogram fertilizer bag is lower than the average retail price of urea fertilizer, based on a survey conducted by the DA’s Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority between March and May.
“The survey we conducted from March to May showed that urea fertilizer retail prices range from P1,043 to P1,062 and even cheaper than the average price of P1,140 in December, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA),” Mr. Dar said.
On April 28, the DA posted an invitation to bid for the supply and delivery of 5.69 million bags of urea fertilizer with an approved budget of P5.69 billion.
“We initially procured a total of 1.81 million bags of urea fertilizer at a price lower than the national average retail price of P1,035.60 for April 27 to May 1; P1,037.53 for May 4 to 8; and P1,040.68 for May 11 to 15. The volume procured comprises four of the 16 lots for wet season 2020 cropping,” Mr. Dar said at Tuesday’s virtual briefing.
“Such prices were a lot cheaper compared to previous purchases of more than P1,300 per 50 kilogram bag of urea fertilizer,” Mr. Dar said.
So far, the DA, through its Bids and Awards Committee, had issued Notices to Award and Contract to the two winning companies, La Filipina Uy Gongco Corp. and Atlas Fertilizer Corp., for the four lots out of the original 16 lots under the urea fertilizer procurement project.
La Filipina Uy Gongco Corp. delivered 97,615 bags at P990 per bag to Region 4-A; 694,904 bags at P995 per bag to Region 6; and 911,073 bags at P995 per bag to Region 3.
Meanwhile, Atlas Fertilizer Corp. brought 107,498 bags at P900 per bag to Region 7.
Mr. Dar said that other bidders were disqualified due to their inability to show technical, legal, and financial capability to address the emergency procurement of urea fertilizer.
In a statement Monday, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) Chairman Rosendo O. So said fertilizer purchased by farmers cost P830 to P850 per bag.
“This shows that the purchase of urea fertilizer by the DA Central Office was utterly disadvantageous to the government and to our farmers, especially now when we need all the funds available to survive this pandemic,” Mr. So said.
Mr. Dar said the farm group failed to consider that the contract price includes the cost of fertilizer, transportation, incidental services, and applicable taxes.
“The minimum winning bid price of P900 per 50 kilograms was P40 to P50 higher than the prices quoted by farmers in their complaint, at P860 per bag of 50 kilograms in Nueva Ecija and P850 per bag in Tarlac,” Mr. Dar said.`The P5.69-billion fertilizer procurement falls under the DA’s Rice Resiliency Project, which aims to increase rice production by the end of the year.
The DA said it followed procurement rules for emergency purchases under Section 53.2 of Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act, and Government Procurement Policy Board Non-Policy Matter Opinion 003-2020. The emergency procurement also complies with RA 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
