Ombudsman orders suspension of agri, FTI officials over onions
THE PHILIPPINE Ombudsman has ordered the suspension of Agriculture and Food Terminal, Inc. (FTI) officials for misconduct and neglect of duty over what it said were anomalous purchase of onions under President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s Kadiwa program.
In an order made public on Aug. 1, Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires ordered the six-month suspension of an Agriculture assistant secretary and accountant and the FTI officers for violating the Procurement law in the delivery of 8,845 bags of onions to Kadiwa food outlets, which sells farm products to the poor.
“Documents show that violations of the Procurement law were allegedly committed by the respondents in relation to the Kadiwa Food Hub project,” he said in the ruling, a copy of which was posted on state-run PTV4’s Twitter page.
The ombudsman cited a questionable 50% advance payment of the contract price and a “lack of parameters” in the procurement of onions.
He said the suspension would prevent the officials from influencing potential witnesses during the investigation and legal proceedings.
The order stemmed from the Ombudsman’s probe of the involvement of traders and Agriculture officials in soaring prices of red and white onions in the market early this year.
The Agriculture department and FTI were under investigation for price manipulation after it was alleged that the latter had paid inflated prices for the commodity to set a high benchmark price for the rest of the market.
In January, Agriculture deputy spokesman Rex C. Estoperez said FTI’s P537 a kilo of domestic onion order followed procurement rules amid allegations of collusion by government officials and the private sector to rig onion prices.
Last week, Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin said the government had identified smugglers and hoarders based on intelligence reports and would soon file cases against them.
In his second state of the nation address to Congress on July 24, Mr. Marcos Jr. scored hoarders and smugglers, whose “days are numbered.”
He asked Congress to pass a bill seeking to revise the country’s Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.
The Department of Justice earlier said it had formed a task force to go after agricultural smugglers and hoarders.
The agency would go after farm smugglers by filing criminal cases including economic sabotage, Justice Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez told a news briefing on July 26. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
