DA to ensure graft-free fertilizer bidding

“We have initially procured a total of 1,811,090 bags of urea fertilizer at a price lower than the national average retail prices of PHP1,035.60 for April 27 to May 1; PHP1,037.53 for May 4 to 8; and PHP1,040.68 for May 11 to 15. The volume procured comprises four of the 16 lots for wet season 2020 cropping,” DA Secretary William Dar said in a virtual presser on Thursday.

"Such prices were a lot cheaper compared to previous purchases at the regions, ranging from PHP1,300 to PHP1,500 per 50-kilo bag of urea fertilizer," he said.

Dar said, at less than PHP1,000 per 50kg, the government is already saving a lot.

"And there is a downward trend of prices, as we are conducting a more transparent centralized bidding through the DA Bids and Awards Committee (BAC)" he said. The DA-BAC is chaired by Undersecretary Waldo Carpio.

The PHP1,000/bag (50kgs./bag) Approved Budget for Contract (ABC) was pegged after consultation with various players in the fertilizer industry, and recommendation of the DA's Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) based on a four-month price monitoring trend.

“The DA-BAC considered the ABC submitted by the end-user of PHP1,000 per bag. As per end-user, the DA Operations Group, headed by Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan, the PHP1,000 was based on the FPA and PSA retail price of urea,” Dar said.

The DA conducted a series of negotiated procurement (emergency purchase) under the State of Calamity that attracted fertilizer distributors in the country, starting on Apr. 29, 2020, for the procurement of 5,691,477 bags with the ABC PHP5,691,477,000.

"As part of this process and in strict adherence to R.A. 9184 and its 2016 RIRR, we had to disqualify those whose technical capabilities were found to be questionable," he said.

The DA has issued Notices to Award and Purchase Orders to the two winning fertilizer companies:La Filipina Uy Gongco Corporation for the delivery of 97,615 bags at PHP990/bag to Region 4A; 694,904 bags at PHP995/bag to Region 6, and 911,073 bags at PHP995/bag to Region 3, on May 8, 2020 and May 14, 2020, respectively; and Atlas Fertilizer for the delivery of 107,498 bags at PHP900/bag to Region 7 on May 14, 2020.

Currently, there is an on-going procurement for the remaining 12 lots. After a thorough review of the Terms of Reference, the End-user regrouped these 12 lots to 26 lots to ensure wider participation of fertilizer distributors. The respective bidding for the 26 lots are ongoing.

“I can personally vouch for the truthfulness and trustworthiness of the procurement process that the DA-BAC has exercised for these fertilizers. Guided by our legal office and in constant consultation with the GPPB, we made sure we followed to the number the prescribed procurement procedure as required by the law,” the DA chief said.

Dar earlier instructed the DA-BAC to look into the most feasible and fastest way to provide for the fertilizer in time for the main wet cropping season.

“We have been very transparent on the procurement of fertilizer as we know this might be used to stir false information against the government. The DA will not wrongfully hold any information that should be known to the public. I encourage everyone to help us look even closer to ensure that every peso we allot is going to where it should be spent,” he said.

Dar said the DA has further streamlined the procurement for the remaining bid lots to ensure that the suppliers comply to every requirement that is advantageous to the government and the people.

"This is one of our responses to the call of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to provide transparency and integrity in all government transactions and interventions, as part of our recently created 'integrity circles,' dubbed as 'Agriculture Dialogue and Information Network Groups' or ADING," he said.

ADING is a systematic and institutional system that will enable us to monitor and evaluate our agri-fishery policies, programs, and projects on the ground, and if these are effectively and cost-efficiently implemented, without any shade of graft and corruption.

"We vowed from the beginning of a no-corruption policy at the Department of Agriculture," he said. (PR)