EDITORIAL - Waiting for resolution

Four elections and 11 years later, indictments are still being brought against former and incumbent public officials suspected of involvement in the misuse of P728 million in fertilizer funds. The agriculture undersecretary at the time, Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante, allegedly diverted the funds to the 2004 campaign of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the presidency. Prosecutors and state auditors say fertilizer funds went to Arroyo supporters even in urban centers and other areas where there are no farms needing fertilizer support.

The latest batch to be implicated included Sen. Lito Lapid, who allegedly approved the procurement of P4.7 million worth of liquid fertilizer without public bidding in May 2004 when he was governor of Pampanga. Also charged in what the Office of the Ombudsman described as an overpriced deal were five other officials of the provincial government.

Lapid, who is running for mayor of Angeles City in 2016, welcomed the filing of the charges. He was indicted for graft several weeks after the ombudsman filed similar charges before the Sandiganbayan against former governors Antonio Kho of Masbate and Casimiro Ynares Jr. of Rizal as well as former mayors Leonidas Theresa Plaza of Butuan City and Percianita Racho of Buenavista in Agusan del Norte.

The indictments indicate faster action on one of the major corruption scandals in the previous administration, but more speed would be even better. Bolante left the country shortly after the scandal erupted, but he returned in 2008, and the accusations against him remain unresolved. He told the Senate upon his return that the fertilizer funds were distributed to 105 congressmen, 53 governors and 23 mayors.

General elections are approaching, and there are again accusations that public funds are being diverted for partisan political purposes. If the anomaly persists, one of the biggest reasons has to be the slow prosecution of those implicated in similar schemes in the past. It’s not unusual for those accused of large-scale corruption to die without ever spending a minute behind bars or even being convicted. This failure of the justice system is still waiting to be corrected. The nation needs to send a powerful message that misusing public funds does not pay.