DA, city gov’t to form team to build P70-M food terminal

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) will adopt the proposal of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte to form a team for the establishment of a food terminal in the city.
In press conference Thursday night, DA Secretary Proceso Alcala told reporters that the DA and the city government have agreed to form a team for the establishment of a P70 million food terminal in Daliao, Toril.
“The good mayor is asking us to nominate some members from DA central office that will help them maybe because he just wants transparency in the project,” Alcala said.
Alcala said the team will formulate a transparent mechanism for the bidding process of the project.
He said the project was supposed to be implemented last year but Duterte opposed the provision that the city government will be the one to implement it with funding from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Alcala said Davao City is the center of trade of the region and other neighboring regions.
If the food terminal is established outside Davao City, he fears that the money used will be wasted.
Alacala also the food terminal will “revolutionize” the agricultural sector in the city.
He said the facility could change the lives of the farmers because they can sell the products without the intervention of middlemen.
Duterte had earlier said he did not accept the project because he does not want to handle money. He said he just wanted the DA to give the facility to the city.
Duterte said he accepted the project but on the condition that teams from the city government and the DA will monitor it.
“Dili ko gusto na kami-kami lang mag-handle kay… basin pud ingnon na PDAF na (I do not want the city to handle alone the project because people may say it is like the Priority Development Assistance Fund),” he said.
The PDAF was allegedly used by suspected mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and several lawmakers to siphon off billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money into their own pockets.
Napoles and Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., and Jinggoy Estrada are currently in detention for plunder cases filed against them related to the PDAF scandal.