US court grants Bolante’s request to continue closed-door hearings

A US court granted a request yesterday from former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante to continue hearings on his case behind closed doors.

After staying at an immigration processing center in California for nearly a month, Bolante appeared before an immigration court yesterday for the first hearing on his case.

Aside from a "closed hearing," Administrative Immigration Judge D.D. Sitgreaves also granted a request from Bolante’s lawyer, Christian Schmidt, for a continuance or deferment of the hearing to allow them to prepare their defense.

Bolante wore a detention-issue blue jumpsuit and was accompanied by an interpreter. He had lost weight and was almost a shadow of the Bolante that appeared in newspaper photographs.

Bolante’s Chicago-based lawyer was unable to make it to the court hearing but Schmidt was on the speakerphone for the proceedings.

Immediately, Schmidt made a motion for a continued closed hearing and a continuance.

"Many people have made statements to the press and much has been written about Mr. Bolante," Schmidt told the court. "We believe that the attendance of these people will harm his good name and not protect his interests." He did not elaborate.

The US government’s lawyer made no objection and Sitgreaves approved the motion. Immediately, reporters in the courtroom as well as a representative sent by the Philippine consulate were ordered out.

"The immigration judge determined today that the hearing, his immigration proceedings will be closed and so they will not be open to the public or to members of the news media," said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It is not yet immediately known when Bolante’s next hearing will be held.

Immigration authorities gave Philippine reporters a tour of the facility where Bolante has been staying, which resembled a small dormitory. Bolante shares the facility with around 40 foreigners of various nationalities, all of them with deportation cases.

"The obligation of the USICE is to ensure that he is kept in custody until decisions are made about the status of his detention and the status of his case," Kice told reporters.

Immigration officials refuse to confirm or deny reports that Bolante is seeking political asylum.

Reliable sources had earlier told The STAR that Bolante was "not being held against his will" and was being "housed" in the detention facility. He is believed to be seeking some form of American protection.

The Senate has called for Bolante’s arrest after he snubbed a public hearing last year over allegations that he used some P2.8 billion in fertilizer funds to reward politicians who helped Mrs. Arroyo win the hotly-contested 2004 presidential election. Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr.’s committee conducted the inquiry.

Meanwhile, Senator Franklin Drilon urged the government to use part of the P1 billion anti-corruption fund to repatriate Bolante from the United States.

Drilon said that the anti-corruption drive of the administration would gain some credibility if it goes after Bolante who is accused of being the mastermind of the multi-million peso fertilizer fund scam.

The Senate has conducted several inquiries into the fertilizer fund scam and has already issued a committee report implicating Bolante, former DA Secretary Luis Lorenzo and other officials.

 "The President provided P1 billion for the anti-corruption drive. My suggestion is that part of the P1 billion be used to repatriate Jocjoc Bolante. Then, the anti-graft drive of this administration will acquire some credibility," Drilon said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, on the other hand, said he believes Bolante and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Marianito Roque were strategically placed by the President in their positions to help Mrs. Arroyo win the 2004 presidential elections.

Lacson described Roque and Bolante as two peas from the same pod since both were supposedly proteges of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo,

"Both were appointed to their positions with the same mission of helping GMA cheat to win the 2004 election, both misused hundreds of millions of pesos of their office funds, both were discovered through a paper trail, both refused to be investigated and both would probably get away with their misdeeds, momentarily at least," Lacson said.

Roque has caught the ire of the Senate for being among the ranking officials of the Executive Branch who snubbed last Monday’s hearing on the Lebanon issue.

With the OWWA being at the center of the controversy regarding the supposed lack of funds for the evacuation of Filipinos in Lebanon, Roque’s absence during the inquiry has revived the plunder case filed by former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez against Mrs. Arroyo and three other officials.

While Roque was not among the officials accused of plunder because he was still director for overseas operations, his boss former OWWA administrator Virgilio Angelo was among the respondents.

Lacson said that Roque’s position then was very important as he was chairman of the OWWA’s bids and awards committee. — Marvin Sy