Farmer ashamed on billing Arroyo for harvest of strawberries

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet - The farmer who billed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the strawberries that she picked is now the one with the “strawberry" cheeks. Ignacio Canuto wrote a letter to La Trinidad Mayor Artemio Galwan saying that the whole thing was "an unfortunate and embarrassing experience." Canuto said that it wasn't him who personally asked that Mrs Arroyo pay P6,000 for the 60 kilograms of the strawberries that she and her entourage picked from Canuto’s farm in Betag village last Black Saturday. He said that it was a relative who complained on radio about him not being paid for the strawberries. "I did not approach any government office to demand payment for my crop, nor was I given the runaround as to what was falsely portrayed," Canuto wrote. But Municipal Agriculturist Felicidad Ticbaen earlier said that the payment due to Canuto was indeed delayed because there were government procedures that should be followed. Ticbaen said Canuto was paid P7,000 for the two huge baskets of strawberries that President Arroyo and her group picked from the farm. Tibaen also said the neighboring farm was paid P3,000 for the lettuce that the presidential party harvested. Ticbaen said the media should not have blown up the incident. Canuto said he had no intention to embarrass those in government. "I have no ill feelings toward any of our government officials, as I believe the transaction to the purchase (of) the strawberries were all done properly, in the usual course of good business, and in conformity to what has been agreed upon," Canuto said in his letter. Canuto did not say what moved him to write the mayor about the strawberry issue, almost a month after the incident. - GMANews.TV