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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Bolante's back, 'under arrest'
MANILA -- Former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante arrived in Manila late Tuesday night, arrested by the Senate's sergeant-at-Arms and whisked to St. Luke's Medical Center for a medical check-up.
Bolante, accused of being the architect of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam in 2004, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) past 10 p.m. Tuesday.
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Upon his arrival at the airport, Bolante was photographed, his fingerprints taken and underwent other procedures before personnel of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) turn him over to Senate custody.
A gaunt-looking and white-haired Bolante did not talk to media after emerging from the processing area.
He apparently has lost weight and look older compared to file photos and videos before he left the country in 2005, after snubbing repeated subpoenas issued by the Senate committee investigating his alleged involvement in the P728 million fertilizer fund scam.
He was brought inside an ambulance and was whisked out of the airport, and then brought to the St. Luke's Medical Center where doctors are looking into his health condition as of this posting.
Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia Jr. said Tuesday night that his men decided to have Bolante brought to the hospital after seeing his condition.
"It was my men who decided to have him brought to a hospital... Officially, even now, he is under custody of the Senate," he told reporters.
He also said he instructed his men to keep watch over Bolante while under "hospital arrest." Balajadia said the decision to bring Bolante to a hospital was "spontaneous."
Balajadia said Bolante is considered under arrest, as he was shown a copy of the arrest order while at the Naia.
Airport authorities distributed a statement purportedly that of Bolante minutes before his arrival.
"The reason for my non-appearance was that I had made prior commitments abroad which were set long before the scheduled Senate hearings," the statement said.
"Now that I'm back, I shall now fulfill my promise of saying my piece, my side of story, I ready to face the issues and all malicious accusation against me," the statement added.
Bolante said he chose to remain silent over the years despite the repeated accusations against him, but he promised no more of the deafening silence.
"Many baseless accusations have been made against me these past years. I chose to remain silent but I have come to realize that the more silent I remain, the more vicious the accusations have become," Bolante said in the statement.
But Bolante said he would first seek a medical checkup and treatment "due mainly to the mental and physical stress and ailments brought about by my detention in the United States."
Bolante failed to secure a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the Senate sergeant-at-arms from implementing an arrest order issued against him in December 2005.
Lawyer Gleo SP Guerra, SC spokeswoman, said there was no resolution forthcoming from the court en banc on Bolante's motion filed hours before his arrival.
No special en banc session was called for the 15-man tribunal to discuss Bolante's motion since the SC has already gone in recess since Monday and would not be back until November 7.
In a motion filed through lawyer Antonio Zulueta, the controversial former agriculture official reiterated his position questioning the legality and constitutionality of the arrest order.
The motion said that the Senate committees on agriculture and public accountability (Blue Ribbon), then chaired by former senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr. and Senator Joker Arroyo, do not have the power to issue a warrant of arrest under the 1987 Constitution. It said the power belongs only to judges.
The Constitution requires the Senate to publish its rules of procedure for it to be valid, Bolante said.
He said the Senate of the 13th Congress failed to publish its rules prior to the issuance of the arrest order on December 12, 2005, and only published it in two newspapers of general circulation on December 1, 2006.
Citing the case of Neri vs Senate, Zulueta said that the Senate of every Congress must publish its rules of procedure governing inquiries in aid of legislation because each Senate is distinct from the one before or after it.
Zulueta further said the inquiry by the Senate committees had long been terminated. He said a committee report had already been submitted to the Senate secretary on March 1, 2006.
Last week, Bolante asked the SC to bar Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia Jr. from implementing the warrant of arrest.
The committees conducted an investigation into the alleged fund scam and issued a warrant for Bolante's arrest to compel him to testify during their hearings. Bolante, however, is accused of fleeing to the US to evade facing the inquiry.
The Senate later on recommended his prosecution before the Office of the Ombudsman.
In a related development, members of a Senate legal team and the sergeant-at-arms overseeing the arrest of Bolante were denied entry to the Naia hours before Bolante's arrival.
The Senate legal team is under the Blue Ribbon Committee, which investigates cases involving graft and corruption.
One of those denied entry was law professor Harry Roque Jr., a consultant of the Blue Ribbon Committee's legal team. Roque had been keeping tabs on Bolante's case.
The team complained they had faxed requests to the Naia's media affairs office, but the media affairs office said it had given passes to the Senate sergeant-at-arms.
Members of the team said they suspect they were denied entry because Roque, who also has links to civil society groups, was with them. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (October 29, 2008 issue)
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