The Office of the Ombudsman will test if there’s a conspiracy between some Department of Agriculture (DA) officers and the personal sector over the procurement of onions allegedly price round P500 per kilo from a cooperative in Nueva Ecija.
“Titignan natin ito ngayon kung merong sabwatan, if there is conspiracy between some officials of the DA at saka itong pribadong sektor (We will check if there is a conspiracy between some officials of the DA and the private sector),” Ombudsman Samuel Martires informed Super Radyo dzBB Wednesday.
The Ombudsman beforehand stated it’ll examine the DA and the Food Terminal Incorporated’s (FTI) procurement of onions price P537 per kilo from the Bonena Multipurpose Cooperative.
According to Martires, investigators of the Ombudsman have despatched a letter to the FTI and the DA concerning the matter.
Asked who the Ombudsman will query contemplating that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is the concurrent secretary of the DA, Martires stated their investigators wrote to Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban.
“Ang sinulatan, kung naalala ko doon sa sulat nila, ang sinulatan ng mga imbestigador namin ay si (If I remember it right from their letter, our investigators wrote to) Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban,” he stated.
He stated they questioned the DA and the FTI over the bidding course of, the worth vary, and why the cooperative was chosen.
“Ngayon kung wala tayong makitang sabwatan sa panig ng gobyerno at saka sa panig ng pribadong sektor, we have to refer this to the Department of Justice to investigate kung pribadong sektor ang may kagagawan nito, to investigate. Kasi hindi na namin saklaw ‘yun, wala na kaming jurisdiction,” Martires stated.
(If we will be unable to search out conspiracy between the federal government and the personal sector, we have now to refer this to the Department of Justice to research if the personal sector is behind this as a result of that isn’t our jurisdiction anymore.)
“But we have to, kailangan hintayin namin muna ano ba ang paliwanag ng FTI (But we have to wait for the explanation of the FTI),” he added.
He additional stated that the companies should justify why they resorted to a negotiated contract whether it is negotiated.
On Tuesday, the DA gave the inexperienced gentle for the importation of 21,060 metric tons of onions to fill a provide hole and arrest the continual spike within the worth of the commodity out there.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
