MANILA, Philippines – Even with his imminent deportation from the United States, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante, the man who could provide crucial information on the fertilizer fund scam that has hounded the Arroyo administration for years, appears to be in fighting form.
Bolante has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to issue a temporary restraining order that would stop the Senate committees on agriculture and food and on accountability of public officers and investigations (Blue Ribbon) from enforcing an arrest warrant on him.
In a five-page counter-manifestation filed by his lawyer Antonio Zulueta, Bolante said that last Oct. 15, he received through his counsel copies of manifestations from the lawyers of the two Senate committees as well as from the Office of the State Legal Counsel.
In their manifestations, the Senate committees said the inquiry into the fertilizer fund scam has not been concluded.
Bolante argued that the probe has long been terminated after the Senate committees prepared a report and submitted this to the Senate Secretary on March 1, 2006.
“In the case at bar, the respondent committees not only prepared a report, but also filed the same with the Senate Secretary on March 1, 2006. This being said, there is nothing more for them to do with the same inquiry,” said Bolante in his counter-manifestation dated Oct. 21, 2008.
“In other words, the inquiry has ended without the respondent Senate committees solving the fertilizer fund scam,” Bolante said.
On Dec. 12, 2005, the respondent Senate committees declared Bolante in contempt for snubbing subpoenas for him to testify on the P700-million fertilizer fund that was allegedly used for the campaign kitty of President Arroyo in 2004.
After Bolante was declared in contempt, the two Senate committees ordered his arrest.
The Senate committees also ordered that Bolante be detained at the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms until he gives his testimony.
“Assuming arguendo that the arrest order is constitutional, it became moot and academic when the committee submitted its final committee report with the Senate Secretary on March 1, 2006. There is no more inquiry in which petitioner shall appear and give his testimony,” Bolante said.
University of the Philippines law professor Harry Roque earlier said Bolante’s deportation from the United States is imminent after the US Department of Homeland Security issued a “removal order” against Bolante.
In an interview over ABS-CBN yesterday morning, Bolante’s American lawyer Ira Azulay said his client will be deported from the US before the end of the month but declined to reveal the specific date.
“Mr. Bolante (has decided) that now is the time for him to return to the Philippines... He’ll be leaving the United States before the end of the month,” the lawyer said.
The US Court of Appeals had already denied Bolante’s petition for asylum, saying the former agriculture official failed to prove he would be politically persecuted in the Philippines once deported.
Conflicting views
But senators have different opinions on whether its previous arrest warrant against Bolante was still effective.
Majority leader and committee on rules chairman Francis Pangilinan said since the Senate is a continuing body, the arrest warrant it issued was still enforceable the moment Bolante returns to the country.
However, Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. expressed belief that a warrant of arrest could lapse after a certain period of time.
Sen. Manuel Roxas II criticized his colleagues for inaction on the issue.
He said if Pangilinan’s stand was that the Senate’s previous arrest warrant against Bolante could still be served, then Senate President Manuel Villar Jr., who is on vacation abroad, must sign it and have the Senate sergeant-at-arms enforce it.
The arrest warrant will need plenary action and since Congress is on break, Roxas said it might take until the resumption of the session before a decision is reached on what to do with Bolante.
The Department of Justice has tasked the National Bureau of Investigation to merely “invite” Bolante once he is deported from the United States for debriefing and questioning.
Hands off
Malacañang officials reiterated yesterday that Bolante is now a private citizen and as such he can take care of himself when he arrives.
Apparently unfazed by the prospect of the opposition using Bolante and his supposed damaging information regarding the fertilizer fund scam, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that the former official should “face up to the problems that he may have.”
Meantime, an official of the Office of the Ombudsman welcomed reports about the looming deportation of Bolante, saying this would provide the latter a chance to “present his side” on the office’s ongoing preliminary investigation on the charges filed against him in connection with the fertilizer fund scam.
“When he comes home, we can serve him with our order to file a counter affidavit in the cases filed against him so he can present his side,” Assistant Ombudsman Jose de Jesus Jr. told The STAR.
Based on the compliant submitted to De Jesus’ office, the charges against Bolante were for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and for Technical Malversation.
Reacting to allegations that the Office of the Ombudsman had been sitting on the case and to those questioning why the office has yet to issue a resolution and charge Bolante, De Jesus said they were just following due process in handling the case.
De Jesus explained that it was only during the second quarter of the year when his office, assigned to do the preliminary investigation, received the formal complaint from the Task Force Abono that was formed to investigate the matter.
‘Benefit of the doubt’
For administration congressmen Rodolfo “Rodito” Albano III, Parañaque Rep. Eduardo Zialcita and opposition Rep. Joel Villanueva, Bolante should be given the benefit of the doubt.
On the other hand, United Opposition (UNO) president and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay said the opposition will not be surprised if Malacañang will again invoke Executive Order 464 to prevent Bolante from testifying before the Senate. - With Marvin Sy, Aurea Calica, Reinir Padua, Delon Porcalla, Michael Punongbayan, Jose Rodel Clapano