MANILA, Philippines — Private sector participation is necessary to succeed in the fight against corruption. Because of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.’s emphasis on private sector involvement, not only in development but also in fighting corruption, there have been recent developments worthy of praise.
The Commission on Audit had previously reported that, for three consecutive years, one-third of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) expenses went unliquidated or unexplained. This is clear indication of corruption or waste.
Tiu Laurel immediately addressed this by getting the private sector involved in the identification and analysis of DA-funded projects for proper action.
Identification
On Jan. 24, 2024, two months after his assumption into office, Tiu Laurel ordered the resumption and improvement of an effective private sector monitoring of the DA budget. This was done through the public-private Philippine Council of Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF).
Last month, PCAF released a report on the 2024 budget Tiu Laurel ordered to be monitored.
Because of the limited PCAF budget, however, only 13 percent of the identified projects were assessed.
For this limited sample, the private sector helped the DA realize that 35 percent of the projects were either unutilized or underutilized. Also specified were details like when, where and who was responsible for such corruption and waste.
For example, a report by a bureau head published in the media stated that there were no unutilized or underutilized projects supervised by him. But the report showed the contrary: There was a 38-percent discrepancy rate.
Without private sector monitoring, this claim would have been accepted—allowing corruption and waste to continue.
Analysis
Here are the exact words of the seven-point submission crafted partly by the private sector, as approved by the DA: “(1) There should be a needs analysis done at the region as the first step; (2) No grants shall be given unless there is a clear memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by the responsible parties; (3) The MOA must have a clear utilization proposal. For the appropriate projects, it should include a financial perspective with a five-year cash flow; (4) The Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Council (RAFC) private sector chair must sign as a witness to the MOA; (5) Copies of the MOA should be immediately given to all the appropriate parties, ahead of the notarized copies sent later; (6) The track record or capability of the beneficiary organization should be carefully evaluated and found to be qualified; and (7) Unutilized and underutilized assets should be transferred to deserving beneficiaries.”
READ: The two business practices government should be doing
Action
For these to result in action, the private sector created a one-page checklist, an effective and proactive system commonly used by banks before fund release.
(There were previously two relevant directives, the last containing more than 30 pages. They were largely ignored because there was no enabling management document to ensure compliance.)
Per the private sector recommendation, before any fund release, the responsible DA regional executive director would have to affix his signature to his answers in compliance with the seven items listed above.
In addition, the private sector RAFC chair, though not involved in the decision, must sign as a witness (for transparency and for possible help in the future). This will certainly significantly decrease the rate of unutilized and underutilized DA-funded projects.
The DA has already approved use of this checklist.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
Tiu Laurel is the secretary who has done the most in combating corruption. This is shown by his fourfold increase in antismuggling apprehensions, valued at P2.9 billion. With private sector participation encouraged by Tiu Laurel in the identification, analysis and implementation of proper action on critical corruption issues, we will now be on the winning path to better budget use and faster agriculture growth.
