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Thursday, November 13, 2008
Auditors, not Bolante grilled in House probe
MANILA -- In the absence of former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn 'Joc-Joc' Bolante during Wednesday's House hearing on the P728 million fertilizer scam, lawmakers turned their ire on Commission on Audit (COA) representatives.
"We are disappointed that (former) Undersecretary Jocjoc did not appear, despite our invitation," said Palawan Representative Kahlil Abraham Mitra, chairman of the House committee on agriculture.
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Mitra said like the Senate, which has assumed custody of Bolante, the House only wants the former agriculture official to shed light on the controversy, especially since many former and incumbent congressmen are being dragged into it.
Nevertheless, the lawmaker said Bolante will most likely attend the next hearing on Tuesday after facing the Senate, which has issued a warrant for his arrest, noting that the House could still subpoena him.
"It would be okay that the Senate would start with him. After all, Mr. Bolante can still appear in our next hearings," said Mitra.
Upon the motion of Cavite Representative Jesus Crispin Remulla, the committee decided to invite Bolante again in the next hearing.
Aside from Bolante, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Finance Undersecretary Belinda Gonzales, and Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya did not also attend Wednesday's hearing.
Because of the lack of resource persons, several congressmen, particularly those who were included in the COA list who have received fertilizer fund, lamented that "it was unfair on their part" as elected officials of the country that their names were included in the COA list, which was not even verified.
COA Director Flerida Jimenez reaffirmed the irregularities on the distribution of fertilizer funds by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
She said based on the COA's findings, some lawmakers and local government officials indeed received money or farm inputs, which was part of the P728-million fertilizer fund.
Jimenez said that based on the COA's findings, at least P250 million went to Provincial Governments, P404 million to congressional districts and P65 million to municipalities.
She also said 59 percent of the total amount has not been liquidated since September 2005.
"We cannot say how much exactly were already liquidated now. We still need to check on our auditors the updated report on the fund," the COA official said.
Jimenez also admitted that the COA report was done only up to the regional field units of the DA, and that more than half of the total amount went to local government officials.
Representatives Pedro Romualdo of Camiguin and George Arnaiz of Negros Oriental admitted that they received funds after the May 2004 presidential elections when they were still governors.
Romualdo said the fertilizers that his province received on June 18, 2004 were distributed to five municipalities in Camiguin, where at least 502 farmers benefited from it and therefore, was "not used for any election purposes."
"The beneficiaries received and used it (fertilizers) in their farmlands. It was not Joc-Joc Bolante who delivered it. I don't know him," he said.
Arnaiz, for his part, said the Negros Oriental Provincial Government received P5 million and used it to buy fertilizers and farm equipment.
Mitra asked the state auditors to submit to the House panel a "complete" audit report that would include disbursement of funds up to the local government level.
Mitra said the committee will explore further the role of lawmakers and other local officials in the fertilizer fund mess after the COA said that corruption, most likely, occurred in proponents' identification of where fertilizer funds were coursed through.
He, however, said there is no basis to have members of Congress who admitted receiving fertilizer funds to inhibit themselves from the investigation, at least for now.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) granted Bolante's motion to withdraw the original petition that he filed in 2006 seeking to stop his arrest by the Senate to compel him to testify on the fertilizer scam.
The SC, in a resolution, found no legal impediment in allowing the withdrawal of the petition, nor was there a legally compelling reason to disallow or deny it, adding that there was no specific provision in the Rules of Court governing withdrawal of petitions.
It said the developments in the case as reported by the media indicate the emergence of factual issues and a determination of facts. (WV/ECV/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (November 13, 2008 issue)
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