DOJ to determine qualification of possible state witness in fertilizer fund scam

It is up to the Department of Justice to determine if Feshan Philippines president Julie Gregorio would qualify as a state witness against key personalities implicated in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, Sen. Richard Gordon asserted yesterday.

“It looks like the committee will be more gentle with Julie (Gregorio) compared to the others,” he said. 

“This is because it was through her that bank accounts were revealed.”

Gordon, Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairman, said the panel may recommend having Gregorio as state witness after she revealed vital information about the scam.

“A person may turn state witness if he or she is not the most guilty,” he said. “Then again, the decision is up to the DOJ.”

Gordon said Gregorio’s supplemental affidavit submitted during the panel’s hearing on Jan. 20 was vital in showing that a huge chunk of the funds purportedly intended for the Department of Agriculture’s Farm Input-Farm Implement (FIFI) project ended up in some individual’s pockets.

Based on Gregorio’s testimony, only a small part of the fund really went to the actual purchase of fertilizers, he added.

Gordon said Gregorio signed a waiver allowing the committee access to her bank records, which supported her supplemental affidavit.

However, Gregorio is not yet completely “out of the woods” since cases for money laundering and tax evasion could still be filed against her, he added.

Gregorio had her company apply for a tax amnesty on the P105-million income they declared to have earned from the fertilizer project.

However, Feshan only paid P500,000 in taxes, not even 10 percent of the income they stated in their books.

Gregorio recanted parts of her first testimony and apologized to the Blue Ribbon committee for her misleading statement.

In a previous hearing, she found out her earlier disclosure that the total amount deposited in Feshan’s Land Bank account was P105 million to be false. – Christina Mendez