Pinoyagribusiness

Palace: Let Quedancor explain about swine program mess
04/05/2008 | 01:35 PM
gmanews.tv 

MANILA, Philippines - With a looming Senate investigation into the alleged 'swine scam', Malacañang on Saturday tossed to the Quedan Rural Credit and Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) the task of explaining to the public the reported irregularities in the P4.26-billion swine program.

Cerge Remonde, head of the Presidential Management Staff, said Quedancor – an agency transferred to the Office of the President in 2004 - is the primary agency involved in the mess.

"In the spirit of transparency yan ang dapat sagutin ng Quedancor, the primary agency (In the spirit of transparency, it is Quedancor that must explain, because it was the primary agency involved)," Remonde said on government-run dzRB radio.

But he said Malacañang was open to a suggestion to publish the names of farmers who supposedly benefited from the program.

On Friday, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he would file a resolution in the Senate to initiate an investigation into the swine scandal.

For his part, lawyer Harry Roque Jr said that because Quedancor was placed under the supervision of the Office of the President since July 2004, Mrs Arroyo should be held accountable for the alleged irregularities in the swine project. .

Roque said those behind the "swine scam" might have skimmed off more than P300 million in "arranger's fees" for facilitating the loans for the project.

"Ang Quedancor galing sa DA. Hulaan ninyo saan na ang Quedancor since 2004? Nasa Office of the President (Quedancor was originally with the Department of Agriculture, but guess where it was transferred in 2004? To the Office of the President)," Roque said in an interview on dwIZ radio last Thursday.

Also, Roque said government might have spent some P900 million out of its P2.46-billion swine program to fund the 2004 election campaign.

He said the arranger's fee was unusual because the loan was between the Land Bank of the Philippines, a government bank, and Quedancor, a government-owned and controlled corporation. - GMANews.TV