No-holds-barred probe being held on fertilizer scam

The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) is conducting a "no-holds-barred" probe of officials allegedly involved in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

PAGC Chairwoman Constancia de Guzman said the probe is being done by a team composed of crack anti-graft investigators and led by a veteran female investigator.

De Guzman declined to reveal the names of the investigators for security reasons.

However, she told reporters the investigators were given 90 days starting last Thursday to wrap up the probe and submit their findings to the PAGC. She and her commissioners will in turn come up with their recommendations to President Arroyo, she added.

De Guzman said Mrs. Arroyo had ordered the PAGC to begin its probe into the multimillion-peso fertilizer fund scam that has implicated former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "JocJoc" Bolante, DA Undersecretary Belinda Gonzales, Assistant Secretary Jose Felix Montes and DA regional directors.

De Guzman said at the end of 90 days, the PAGC investigators would be expected either to recommend the dismissal of charges or file administrative charges against the suspects who could be dismissed from government service without benefits.

Although they could not recommend administrative charges against Bolante as he is no longer connected with the government, the probers could still gather information to support the filing of a criminal case against him before the Office of the Ombudsman, he added.

On the other hand, De Guzman said the PAGC has no mandate to investigate Mrs. Arroyo, and that would leave the task to other bodies.

De Guzman said if the PAGC investigation leads as far as Mrs. Arroyo, she could be forced to quit her post as head of the agency.

"I will resign because that will only mean that she had lost her moral ascendancy," she said. "But common sense will tell us that if the President is involved in the scam, why would she order us to conduct a probe and come up with a credible case buildup?"

Meanwhile, De Guzman said the PAGC probers on the trail of those involved in the fertilizer fund scam will be using the 41-page report of the Senate committee on agriculture and food as an investigative guideline.

"We will be using the report for leads in our probe," she said. "We will use the report in identifying all those involved, including the unnamed regional directors."

De Guzman said at the moment, the PAGC probers have started issuing subpoenas to the Department of Budget and Management and to the Department of Agriculture requesting all the documents detailing the fertilizer fund scam.

"We must gather all these documents to show the extent of involvement of these agencies," she said.