Ombudsman to charge Marawi ex-mayor, 6 others in fertilizer fund scam

The Office of the Ombudsman has found probable cause to charge former Marawi City Mayor Omar Ali and six others in the anomalous expenditure of the Department of Agriculture's (DA) funds commonly known as the fertilizer fund scam.

According to a news release from the agency on Tuesday, the accused were found to have misspent funds intended for the DA's Farm Inputs and Farm Implements Program.

Ali's co-accused are Jaime Paule, Marilyn Araos, Marites Aytona, Leonicia Llarena, Minda Bombase and Joselito Flordeliza, who is president of the National Organization for Agricultural Enhancement and Productivity Incorporated (NOAEPI).

In a 17-page Resolution, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales ordered the filing of an information against the seven for the violation the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The resolution said a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between Ali, Flordeliza and DA Region Field Unit 10 Director Rufo Chan Jr. in May, 2004, and that NOAEPI received nearly P2 million from the DA to purchase overpriced organic fertilizers.

Based on Commission on Audit (COA) findings, the fertilizers were bought at P1,500 per bottle, ten times its actual price of P150.

The COA also revealed that NAOEPI was awarded the contract even with a total equity of P468,868.40. There was also no list of farmer beneficiaries or distribution list submitted to support the liquidation. — Andrei Medina/BM, GMA News