THERE ARE virtually no farms in Las Piñas, Parañaque, Quezon City and certainly not in Makati. Yet these overbuilt and densely-populated cities were among at least 100 congressional districts that, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA), needed P1.8 billion in farm inputs and implements in February 2004, just when the presidential campaign was kicking off.

So when Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. was asked last week how he used his P3-million allocation from the DA, he quickly denied ever having received it. "Where did the money go because it sure didn't go to, well, at least (Las Piñas Rep.) Cynthia Villar and me?" Locsin asked in a privilege speech last Monday.

Part of the answer, according to records obtained from the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit (COA), confirms what government critics and farmers' groups have long been saying: that most of the money went to pro-administration governors, mayors and congressmen who were expected to support President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's election.

What the Ombudsman and the COA have so far discovered is that at least P120 million found its way to 15 obscure or nonexistent private foundations that had nothing to do with agriculture, but were apparently used as conduits for campaign funds. The investigators still have not traced where hundreds of millions more in DA funds ended up, but these too, they say, were likely diverted to the campaign.

COA auditors were initially baffled by the manner in which the money, disbursed beginning in February 2004, just a week before the start of the 90-day presidential campaign, up to early May, flowed from the national coffers to the DA's regional and local offices and then to the foundations.

But after months of research, the auditors, who asked not to be named, now say they have uncovered an intricate plot to use the DA's network to divert money to private groups and entities beyond government control and exempted from the rigors of state accounting procedures.

"It was a well-planned project involving national and local officials and the DA itself, with its nationwide machinery, which ensured easy distribution throughout the country," said a COA source involved in the investigation.

Questions over the use of agriculture funds are not new. Last year, several cases of plunder related to the use of DA funds were filed against President Arroyo and officials of the agriculture and budget departments.

Since last year, the Ombudsman and the COA have been discreetly following the money trail of the DA's cash-rich Ginintuang Masaganang Ani or GMA Project, a program with several components that include rice-and-corn, livestock and seeds program.

One of these components was the P728 million released on February 3, 2004, supposedly for the agricultural projects of congressional districts, towns and provinces. Another component of the GMA Project is the P1.1 billion, released on February 11, 2004 supposedly for "maintenance and operating expenses."

Both of these funds, according to former Solicitor General Fancisco Chavez, went to legislators, governors and mayors to support the president's election. Chavez said these were "in reality, an infusion into the political kitty" of Arroyo. He alleges that the president committed plunder when she used government funds for her campaign.

Crucial to the project was Jocelyn "Joc-joc" Bolante, a close friend of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and his fellow Makati Rotarian. Bolante was named DA undersecretary for finance and administration shortly after Arroyo took over the presidency from Joseph Estrada in 2001. He was in fact the first Arroyo appointee to the department and was already put in charge even before the agriculture secretary, Leonardo Montemayor, was named.

Bolante's power over the agriculture department was widely known. Last year, just before the start of the campaign, it was he — and not then Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo — who sent letters to various congressmen and local officials informing them of the availability of funds under the DA's GMA Project.

In that letter, Bolante directed these officials to coordinate with his office "to discuss all the requirements to facilitate the said project fund." Bolante's letter is dated February 3, 2004, the same day that the Special Allotment Release Order or SARO for the fund was made available by the budget department.

A copy of Bolante's letter was part of the documents submitted by Chavez to back up his plunder charge. A similar case was filed by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and other farmers' groups.

Former DA Undersecretary Ibarra Poliquit admitted Bolante had a hand in determining how the GMA Project funds were spent. He said former DA chief Luis Lorenzo "authorized Bolante to decide on the realignment of funds." Although the DA has a list of officials whose "proposed projects" were to be funded by the GMA Fund, Bolante was given the authority to drop them and replace them with others.

Assistant Secretary and DA Spokesperson Jose Montes insisted "the money was put to good use" funding projects that were proposed by congressmen, governors and mayors themselves. He even cited the growth of the agricultural sector in 2004.

Montes also added that "the election had nothing to do with the timing (of the release of the funds). Ang timing namin always is kung kelan kailangan ng agrikultura yung pera, dun dapat natin ilabas. Hinahabol naming production targets, planting season ng April and May (Our timing is dictated by the needs of the agriculture sector. That's when we release funds. We have to meet production targets and the April and May planting season)."

Urban areas also need farm implements, Montes said. In the case of Parañaque, the money went to shredders for composting. And contrary to the impression that there aren't any farms or rice paddies in Parañaque, Montes said there is "urban agriculture" composed of what he called "vacant-lot farming" and the growing of ornamental plants.

Chavez said that the P728 million was disbursed to 105 congressmen, 53 governors, and 23 city and municipal mayors. He showed a list obtained from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) attesting to the releases. He also revealed that some of these recipients received actual cash and not farm inputs, as DA rules had prescribed.

It now appears from COA findings that part of the agriculture funds went to questionable foundations. In the Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog region, COA auditors traced the funds to groups like the Gabaymasa Development Foundation, Magsasaka Foundation and Aaron Foundation.

Records of the Securities and Exchange Commission show Gabaymasa's purpose is "to undertake integrated rehabilitation and restoration activities in areas affected by natural and man-made calamities." Yet the DA issued to the foundation checks worth P23.1 million, supposedly to purchase farm inputs in Quezon, Marinduque, Oriental and Occidental Mindoro, Palawan and Paranaque.

Aaron Foundation, on the other hand, is listed in the SEC as engaging in livelihood projects and daycare centers for street children. It received P5.2 million, supposedly for agriculture projects in Batangas and Palawan.

The SEC has no record of a Magsasaka Foundation but it is listed as the recipient of P6.5 million for farm projects in Palawan.

In the Visayas and Mindanao, the agriculture funds went to various foundations, among them Ikaw at Ako Foundation (P13 million for projects in Bohol, Biliran and Agusan del Norte), Philippine Social Development Foundation (P31 million for projects in Agusan del Sur and del Norte and Surigao del Norte), Matatag na Republika Cooperative P3.2 million for Biliran) and People's Organization for Progress and Development, Inc. (P5.2 million for Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur).