By JUNE S. BLANCO

 REP. Erico Aumentado (2 nd District, Bohol) has urged the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a probe into a half-billion peso scam obtaining at the Quedancor that has tarnished his name and honor. In a letter to OIC Director Nonatus Cesar Rojas thru Deputy Director Virgilio Mendez dated June 4, Aumentado requested an investigation into the alleged plunder of a P512,101,282.62 funding for the Quedancor Swine Program (QSP) implemented by the Iloilo District Office from 2002 to 2007. That same date, he delivered a privilege speech at the House of Representatives similarly requesting for an investigation in aid of legislation to prevent a repeat of the “massive pillage of the people’s money by some unscrupulous and criminal elements privy to the program.” The solon lamented that the tarnishing of his name has cost him a Dangal ng Bayan Award – an honor the Civil Service Commission gives to outstanding public officials and employees. He was nominated for his Poverty Reduction for Peace and Development program during his watch as governor that plucked Bohol out of Club 20 – the 20 poorest provinces in the country as identified in the 2005 Human Development Report published by the United Nations.

The program that had fought poverty and insurgency at the same time also led to Bohol being declared by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) as insurgency-free, which strategy then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made a template for other insurgency-ridden provinces to follow. His efforts had earned him a Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence (KAME) from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung of Germany and an Outstanding Governor award from the Senate, University of the Philippines, Development Academy of the Philippines, Department of the Interior and Local Government and the de la Salle University. The program also earned for him a Galing Pook Hall of Fame Award. Aumentado got the surprise of his life when he received a certification from the Office of the ombudsman that he was among the Quedancor directors and parties with disallowed accounts totaling P46,342,958.70 of which his is supposedly P3.95 million. Commission on Audit (COA) was the complainant.

Aumentado urged both NBI and the House to follow the paper trail of the questionable checks and find out who signed the journal voucher, who made the account on his behalf and who encashed the checks. The solon said he could not have received those checks because he never involved himself in the swine business to avoid conflict of interest. He said he did not incur any loan with Quedancor Iloilo; he was not even aware that Quedancor has such a program. He also said while he was president of both the League of Provinces (LPP) and Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) in 2004 to 2007, he did not attend any Quedancor board meeting because he did not qualify or assumed the position because he was never informed officially either of his election or appointment as certified by Quedancor Corporate Secretary Armando Crobalde Jr. But as league president, he became member of the Quedancor Governing Board by virtue of Republic Act 8435 or the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act. Still he had himself represented by LPP Deputy Secretary General Raoul Villano and ULAP Executive Director Monina Camacho.

Investigating on his own, Aumentado learned that in 2004, the needs of the QSP farmer beneficiaries were served exclusively by BIRKS Agri-Livestock Corp., an alleged accredited supplier. The farm inputs included piglets, gilts, feeds, biologics and technical support. A check into Birk’s track record however floated more questions than answers. The Bohol solon said undoubtedly, Birks did not have the technical capability and resources to supply on its own the necessary inputs to sustain a swine program with magnitude as that of the QSP and that the result was “a financial disaster.” As lead for the NBI, he named one Nelson Buenaflor and other Quedancor officials especially of the Iloilo District Office, in connivance with Birks and other parties to have allegedly committed the scam and raided the Quedancor funds.