TEN years after the late president Benigno S. Aquino approved its abolition, the National Agribusiness Corp (Nabcor) remains in existence due to the failure of the Transition Management Committee (TMC) to complete its plan for liquidation (POL).
Nabcor, a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), was recommended for dissolution by the Governance Commission on GOCCs (GCG) in 2013 after many years of operating at a loss.
In the same year, government auditors tagged it as among three GOCCs, along with the ZNAC Rubber Estate Corp (ZREC) and the Philippine Forest Corp (PFC), that were supposedly used as conduits in multi-billion pesos fraud in relation to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Malampaya Fund scams.
“The POL of the Nabcor has not been formulated yet, despite the lapse of more than ten years from the approval by the OP (Office of the President) under a memorandum dated November 26, 2013 on the recommendation of the GCG,” the COA noted.
During the six years under the Duterte administration from 2016 to 2022, the process scarcely moved.
The commission warned that the continuing inaction by agriculture officials could result in the loss of the remaining assets of Nabcor and the non-enforcement of notices of disallowance which were already covered by notices of finality of decision (NFD).
As of year-end 2023, the total disallowances with corresponding NFDs numbered 158 involving P406.25 million worth of transactions.
