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By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
Count more cannons firing to the
left and right of the already embattled Jocelyn “Joc-Joc”
Bolante, a former Agriculture undersecretary.
This time, they are coming from
the direction of Malacañang, supposedly one bastion that Bolante
had been counting on to defend him from accusations of being a scam
artist.
The deputy national-security
adviser, Luis “Chavit” Singson, on Thursday urged Bolante to
testify in case the Senate reopens its inquiry into an alleged
fertilizer-fund scam and reveal everything that he knows about the
racket.
If Bolante won’t tell all,
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said also on Thursday,
then senators should make the former Agriculture undersecretary
“sing.”
Bolante is accused of being the
architect of the alleged scam involving P728 million in fertilizer
funds for the country’s farmers. He was said to have diverted the
money to the administration camp in the 2004 presidential elections.
Singson on Thursday said Bolante
must speak out so that other officials who possibly also dipped
their hands in the fertilizer funds could be charged in court.
He added that he pities President
Gloria Arroyo, because her name is being dragged in the controversy
even if. Singson said there is insufficient evidence against her.
The former Ilocos Sur governor
criticized the opposition for allegedly hyping the Bolante issue
through the media and attacking President Arroyo by continuing to
link her to the alleged scam.
Senate investigation
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano earlier
said that his blue-ribbon committee would reopen the investigation
of the fertilizer fund scam either Thursday or Friday next week.
Although the probe this time will
focus on Bolante, Cayetano added, he is not discounting the
possibility of calling other witnesses. He said that he would not
yet call Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez to testify in the new
inquiry.
Cayetano said the issue on the
alleged inaction of Gutierrez on the alleged scam could be discussed
during the hearing of the budget for 2009 of the Office of the
Ombudsman before a Senate committee.
During the Thirteenth Congress,
the Senate Committee on Agriculture headed by then-Senator Ramon
Magsaysay Jr. found the former Agriculture undersecretary guilty of
masterminding the alleged fertilizer fund scam and recommended his
prosecution by the Ombudsman.
In suggesting that the Senate
make a “truthful” man out of Bolante, Pimentel also on Thursday
said that the alleged architect “singing” would make the
supposed farmer-victims of the alleged scam at least happy to know
where their taxes went.
The senator insisted that the
Senate is not about to buckle under any pressure from the
“powerful whose interests Bolante serves with Faustian
servility.” Pimentel did not elaborate.
Since arriving on October 28 from
the United States, Bolante has been under Senate custody. He had
fled to the US to avoid Senate summonses for him to testify on the
alleged scam of which he was the “brains.”
Bolante, however, remains
confined at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where he is
undergoing a series of medical tests.
Useless exercise
Senators Joker Arroyo and Edgardo
Angara said reviving the inquiry into the alleged fertilizer fund
scam would serve no purpose since the Senate had already approved
the report of the Senate Committee on Agriculture on the issue in
March 2006.
Arroyo and Angara cited the
Senate’s recommendation to have Bolante prosecuted by the Office
of the Ombudsman, which they said could best handle the case. Angara,
the current chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, had
said that he was not about to revive the inquiry.
But Pimentel argued that the
Senate has no choice but to revive the case. “Not to do so would
tarnish the reputation of the [Senate] even more.”
Pimentel maintained that the
Senate investigation of the alleged scam was not closed because
Bolante had evaded Senate jurisdiction.
“Now that he is here, the
Senate should not let him go until he sings a truthful tune,” he
said.
He noted that Senate doctors had
found nothing wrong with Bolante, so there was no possibility of a
dying man testifying at the Senate.
Committee plans
Cayetano, chairman of the Senate
blue-ribbon committee, said he would pursue the revival of the
inquiry next week. He added that he would ask Ombudsman Gutierrez to
explain why the case has not moved since 2006.
Cayetano said that he would not
invite the 100 plus congressmen included in Bolante’s list of fund
beneficiaries “out of inter-chamber courtesy.”
Himself a former congressman, he
said the lawmakers on the list could volunteer to testify if they
feel that they have some explaining to do.
These supposed beneficiaries,
according to three other congressmen, should take the cue from
Cayetano.
The three congressmen—Rufino
Biazon of Muntinlupa City, Bienvenido Abante of Manila and Teodoro
Casiño of Bayan Muna party-list—said those on Bolante’s
supposed list of beneficiaries should come out voluntarily and tell
whether they received portions of the controversial funds from the
Department of Agriculture.
They made the call after the
Office of the Ombudsman announced that it would summon four current
and former members of the House of Representatives who allegedly
gained from the fertilizer funds.
The four possible witnesses are
Rep. Nanette Castelo-Daza of Quezon City, Rep. Carmencita Reyes of
Marinduque, former Malabon-Navotas Rep. Ricky Sandoval and former
Batangas congressman and now Lipa City Mayor Oscar Gozos.
Daza was reported to have
admitted on national television that she did receive fertilizer
funds.
--Efren L. Danao And Jomar Canlas
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