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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
House, Senate at odds over Bolante appearance
MANILA -- Former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante agreed to appear before congressional inquiries but lawmakers clashed over the issue as to where he would appear first.
Palawan Representative Abraham Kahlil Mitra, chairman of the agriculture committee, confirmed in a press conference Tuesday afternoon that Bolante received personally and signed the invitation of the House for him to appear in its investigation on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam issue, which starts on Wednesday.
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Mitra, however, said that Bolante wrote to him -- of which a copy of the letter was distributed to media -- saying that as much as he (Bolante) would like to contribute to the success of the hearing, he is presently under the custody of the Senate due to a warrant of arrest issued against him on December 12, 2005, and therefore not in a position to honor the invitation of the Lower House.
Bolante asked the agriculture committee to help him secure the necessary clearance from the Senate for him to attend the House probe and to give him a copy of the questions to be asked, so he may know the scope to be covered by the House inquiry.
Mitra, however, stressed that the House of Representatives "don't need to ask permission of the Senate for Bolante to appear in House hearings."
"We can conduct our own investigation regarding the fertilizer fund mess," he said.
But Senator Manuel Roxas II said Bolante is still under Senate custody and any of his actions will be with the permission of the Senate.
Roxas made the clarification following moves by the House of Representatives to summon Bolante in a similar hearing in the Lower House on Wednesday.
"He (Bolante) is not a free person to accept invitations as he so chooses. If Joc-Joc will just go where he pleases, then we should already bring him here to testify. The reason he was given till Thursday to rest, was because of his ailing health," said the lawmaker.
The Senate Blue Ribbon committee will reopen its investigation into the controversy on Thursday.
"Joc-Joc was allowed to stay in the hospital because of the good will of the senators, for humanitarian reasons. This should not be abused," he added.
Roxas is confident the House would respect the Senate's custody of Bolante.
"There is interparliamentary courtesy considered here. We should not put color in the House's intentions in calling for Joc-Joc. All of us want to know the truth, and know if Malacañang was a part of this," he said.
On the other hand, Mitra said his committee is open for any motion to issue subpoena against the former agriculture official or an arrest warrant in case he fails to attend Wednesday's House inquiry.
Despite the uncertainty of Bolante's appearance in Wednesday's hearing, the lawmaker assured that other resource speakers invited for the House probe have already confirmed their attendance.
These include Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Agriculture Undersecretary Belinda Gonzales, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, former Budget secretary Emilia Boncodin, and officials of the Commission on Audit (COA), among others.
For Malacañang, the congressional inquiry -- whether by the House of Representatives, the Senate, or both -- into the fertilizer scam would lead to the much-anticipated closure of the issue.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo also hoped that other lawmakers who received the funding allocation would come out and show the public where the money went as what Speaker Prospero Nograles already did recently.
"It has been an issue for two years already and it's probably time to have a closure," she said.
Fajardo assured that Malacañang would not intervene in the congressional probe, believing that the two Houses of Congress would be able to resolve among themselves the conduct of parallel probes on the issue.
She said certain protocols would have to be observed, but "it's up to them how they handle the investigation. So I guess we just need to wait for the results of that."
Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro Bishop Antonio Ledesma said security should be provided to Bolante who is set to testify in the Senate hearing on the fertilizer scam Thursday.
Ledesma said the threat to the former agriculture official's life should be taken seriously.
"The security of Mr. Bolante should also be taken care of, I guess, by the proper authorities... and also by the civil society groups... they should protect him just like what they did to Mr. (Rodolfo) Lozada," he said.
Lozada was one of the witnesses in the Senate inquiry into the anomalous National Broadband Network (NBN)-ZTE deal.
The prelate added that providing security to Bolante would ensure that he would be able to testify that would unravel the unanswered questions on the three-year-old case.
"The farmers, who were the original beneficiaries of this supposed funds to supplement their farming, have long been waiting for his testimony on what really happened to the money and why it was not able to reach them," he said. (JMR/FP/PNA/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (November 12, 2008 issue)
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