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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Villar orders Bolante's arrest
MANILA -- The Senate and Malacañang are in collision course as former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante arrives Tuesday from the US where he was detained for two years for an immigration offense.
Senate President Manuel Villar ordered Monday General Jose Balajadia Jr., the Senate sergeant-at-arms, to implement the warrant of arrest the Senate issued in December 2005 against Bolante, the alleged mastermind in the multi-million-peso fertilizer fund scam.
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"They have a specific instruction to arrest Bolante on sight and bring him to the Senate," Villar said.
But Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, also on Monday, ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Immigration to secure Bolante during his arrival and process his arrival papers, a requirement for returning Filipinos deported from abroad.
"You are to receive Mr. Bolante only for processing purposes after which he should be released to his lawyer, family or whoever is interested in him," Gonzalez told NBI Director Nestor Mantaring and Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.
In a press statement, Villar said the arrest order that he signed as then vice chairman of the Senate Agriculture committee is still valid.
But Gonzalez said there is no reason to hold Bolante upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport considering that he is a free man facing no charges.
Citing a Supreme Court decision, Gonzalez argued that the arrest warrant issued by the Senate of the 13th Congress already expired and is therefore not valid for implementation or binding in the Senate of the present 14th Congress.
Villar said arguments like the one raised by Gonzalez would result in an absurd situation wherein a person held in contempt or is issued a warrant of arrest would just ignore and evade the Senate order until the adjournment of the session.
The Senate issued the warrant after Bolante failed to attend the public hearings of two Senate committees on the fertilizer fund scam.
The scam refers to the P728 million allocated for poor farmers but were allegedly diverted to the 2004 presidential campaign kitty of President Arroyo.
Gonzalez, in a memorandum, directed Mantaring and Libanan not to allow other persons except those from NBI and Immigration and the Senate sergeant-at-arms from participating in all procedures involving Bolante's arrival.
To allay any suspicion, Gonzalez also ordered Mantaring and Libanan to invite media people covering Bolante's arrival to witness his processing, which includes fingerprinting and other identification measures.
"(You should) conduct the process right in the airport with full transparency in order to show that there is no brainwashing or coaching to influence his statements," he said.
Meanwhile, former solicitor general Francisco Chavez filed a "reiterative motion" for the Supreme Court to hand down its decision on a suit that he filed to compel Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to rule on the plunder case that he filed against Bolante and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004 in connection with the agriculture fund scam.
Chavez said reports of Bolante's impending arrival from the US and the continuing inaction of the Ombudsman on the plunder cases were sufficient grounds for the SC to give due course to his petition.
The SC earlier ordered the Senate to disclose the status of its inquiry into the fertilizer fund anomaly so that it could rule on the petition filed by Bolante in 2006.
Last week, Bolante asked the high court to order the Senate sergeant-at-arms to permanently cease and desist from executing and implementing the warrant of arrest against him issued by the Senate committee on agriculture and food and the Blue Ribbon committee since the inquiry has already been concluded.
His lawyer Antonio Zulueta said the inquiry mounted by the respondent Senate committees had long been terminated, while a committee report has already been submitted to the Senate Secretariat on March 1, 2006.
Citing the Senate Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation, Zulueta insisted that a report shall be filed within 15 days from the conclusion of the inquiry.
The committees conducted an investigation into the fund scam and issued a warrant for Bolante's arrest to compel him to testify during its hearings, but he fled to the US to evade facing the inquiry. The Senate later on recommended his prosecution before the Ombudsman.
The Senate hearing based its inquiry into Chavez's expose that Bolante was the "master architect" of the alleged anomalies in the implementation of the Department of Agriculture's Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program.
According to the senators, Bolante and co-accused Assistant Secretary Felix Montes diverted the funds originally intended for the procurement of farm implements to farmers to fund Arroyo's reelection in the May 2004 presidential polls.
Bolante was cited for contempt and subsequently ordered to be arrested on December 12, 2005 after he failed to attend the joint committee hearings scheduled on October 6 and 26, November 17 and 24, and December 12, 2005, despite subpoenas sent to him.
He then fled the country at the height of the Senate's investigation into the fund scam but he was arrested and detained in Los Angeles on July 7, 2006 after airport authorities found him in possession of a revoked US visa, in violation of its immigration laws.
His visa was revoked after he was tagged by the Senate as the mastermind in the scam.
On trial for deportation, the former agriculture official stated his desire to stay on in the US as he is being politically persecuted in the Philippines, but this argument was repeatedly denied by US authorities and courts for lack of merit.
In Malacañang, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza dismissed Bolante's return to the Philippines as a non-event.
He wondered why some people are interested in Bolante's arrival when they should be giving more "attention to our efforts for more investments, taking care of global issues."
When asked if President Arroyo would be briefed about Bolante's arrival upon the President's return from China, Dureza said the issue is "not in our radar screen." (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (October 28, 2008 issue)
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