The withdrawal of funds from the Department of Agriculture to Negros Oriental was due to unliquidated transfers that had accumulated since 2001, Jose Elumba, officer-in-charge of the DA Regional Technical Division for Research and Regulations, said recently.

Elumba was responding to allegations that those with political bias are trying to withhold the release of funds to purchase the two tractors committed by DA Secretary Proceso Alcala to the province earlier.

Elumba said the allocation for farm tractors is on a counterpart basis, with 85 percent to be funded by the DA and 15 percent by the recipient local government units. This means that, for a P2.2 million farm tractor, the LGU counterpart is around P300,000, he added.

DA provincial director Alejandro Rafal said that, due to stringent regulations of the Commission on Audit following the pork barrel scam, submission of liquidation reports of past fund transfers to the provincial government was required.

He said that, to date, the province has unliquidated fund transfers of P25 million, including the P1 million seed subsidy program, portion of the P15 million farm-to-market road projects, and the P5 million fertilizer fund that was also allegedly a scam.

Rafal said those need to be liquidated because COA is already questioning the DA for what he described as its bloated book of accounts. He stressed that beneficiary LGUs must submit the liquidation before the department can transfer funds for succeeding programs.

Meanwhile, the DA said P1 million is ready for release in the second district of Negros Oriental under the livestock dispersal program of the government.

Elumba said the mayors want a cattle dispersal program, and the payment scheme is being drafted by recipient LGUs. One basic provision for the repayment is that two female offspring will be distributed to the next set of recipients, farmer associations or cooperatives, he added.

Meanwhile, the towns of Amlan, Bindoy, Ayungon and Dauin received goatsunder the hunger mitigationof the government, and the animals were purchased by the Bureau of Animal Industry, Elumba added.*JG

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