FARMERS TIRED OF BOLANTE'S FAKE ILLNESS

FARMERS TIRED OF BOLANTE'S FAKE ILLNESS

MANILA, NOVEMBER 5, 2008 (STAR) By Katherine Adraneda - Farmers tired of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante’s “acting sick” said yesterday that the former official is “merely delaying the inevitable.”

The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) insisted that senators should now press Bolante to “start facing the music of his misdeeds” and answer issues surrounding the P728-million fertilizer fund scam. They said medical tests he underwent did not indicate any serious illness. “All he has to do even if he does have multiple gastric ulcers or not is answer the question if indeed he is involved in the fertilizer fund scam. That is answerable by a simple yes or no. Then the details can follow,” said Feliz Paz, national council member of KMP and chairman of KMP-Bikol.

“All we want is the truth, and we want it now. We have waited for so long and we will not allow it to be delayed further. Besides, when he was in the US, he has no complaints but when he got here it is as if (he is) going to die. The doctors in (St. Luke’s Medical Center) even said that he is not in any danger.

“Just tell the truth and account for what you have done, then your conscience will be free. That is our advice to Jocjoc. If he does not follow it, then his moral sickness will just get worse,” he said.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) also joined calls for Bolante to get out of the hospital and face the Senate investigation. Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said that testifying at a Senate investigation should not be a “strenuous activity” for Bolante. Reyes believed that Bolante might only be taking his time waiting for the Court of Appeals (CA) to issue a decision that would nullify the Senate’s warrant against him. He urged the Senate to order a government doctor to verify Bolante’s real condition at the SLMC.

“St. Luke’s should be circumspect in issuing statements that might fall into the Bolante plan. A reputable medical institution like theirs must not allow itself to be used by shady political maneuvers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bolante’s medical bulletin said that the stated findings on the ex-DA official’s medical examination indicate “benign” illnesses, which treatment might be done through prescription. Even the tests undertaken by Bolante in the past few days could be done on an out-patient basis, said doctors, who asked not to be identified. Dr. Fidel Chua, administrator of the Ospital ng Maynila, explained that multiple gastric ulcers could probably indicate a bleeding inside the stomach, which could be due to severe stress.

In the latest medical bulletin signed by Dr. Romeo Saavedra and read by SLMC spokesperson Marilen Lagniton before media last Monday afternoon, the series of tests done on Bolante showed “the presence of multiple gastric ulcers, esophagitis, and erosive gastritis, which tested positive for H-pylori.” “The colonoscopy showed the presence of multiple polyps, which were all removed,” the second medical bulletin also stated.

“The abdominal CT scan also showed a suspicious solitary nodule on the right adrenal gland, which necessitates further examination. An endocrinologist has been called on board,” the medical bulletin stated. Bolante’s hospital bills for eight days are now estimated at P200,000. Bolante stays in a “large private room” on the second floor of the hospital, at a cost of P11,000 a day. Aside from a cardiologist, the former DA official now has an endocrinologist and a neurologist attending to him, Dr. Romeo Saavedra said. Bolante is also expected to undergo a conventional coronary angiogram today, he said.

Bolante, 19 others ordered to answer graft, malversation charges By Edu Punay Wednesday, November 5, 2008 F

ormer agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante and 19 others linked to the P728-million fertilizer fund scam were ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday to answer the graft and malversation charges against them. The anti-graft agency has ordered Bolante, 14 officials and employees of the Department of Agriculture and five private individuals named respondents in five criminal complaints to submit their counter-affidavits, an insider told The STAR. Bolante’s co-respondents include an assistant secretary, two regional executive directors, a regional technical director, a regional accountant, two chief accountants, an inspection officer, three members of the Bids and Awards Committee, and three cashiers, the source added. Bolante received the order to submit his counter-affidavit at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City last week.

The source said the names of the co-respondents could only be revealed after the Office of the Ombudsman has received confirmation of their receipt of the orders. Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said that Malacañang will not invoke executive privilege to stop Bolante from testifying before the Senate. Bolante is now a private citizen and the government has no jurisdiction over him, he added. Dureza said the Senate should decide whether to reopen its inquiry into the fertilizer fund scam since its members have varying views on the matter. The Office of the Ombudsman is the body that should investigate the fertilizer fund scam and Bolante, he added.

On the other hand, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Bolante could still invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination when he appears before the Senate. “Well, he is no longer a public official and to invoke the effects of executive privilege, there must be a claim by the Office of the President for that,” he said. Gonzalez said under the Revised Penal Code, a former public official can still be meted a maximum one-year imprisonment if he would reveal secrets known to him in his official capacity. “It can be invoked by somebody who sits in the witness stand and say that I will not answer that because that will incriminate me,” he said.

However, Bolante might not violate the RPC if he would reveal how the P728 million in fertilizer funds was disbursed, Gonzalez said. Meanwhile, Sen. Pia Cayetano said nothing would bar the Senate sergeant-at-arms from bringing Bolante before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee next week. “Bolante has run out of excuses,” she said. “He should not abuse the latitude being accorded to him by the Senate. Evidently, it’s just Jocjoc or perhaps the masterminds of the scam who have been insisting on his continuous confinement in order to evade the Senate.” Bolante can ask his doctors to routinely check his condition at the Senate and at the hearing itself, she added.

Cayetano said it was easy to see through the actions of Bolante’s lawyers in withdrawing his petition for a temporary restraining order before the Supreme Court. “Bolante is exhausting all legal means to prevent himself from appearing in the Senate,” she said. Nothing could prevent the Senate from issuing a new warrant for Bolante’s arrest, Sen. Francis Escudero said.

Another source told The STAR the charge sheets include two incumbent members of the House of Representatives, one of whom was a governor at the time he received funds from the DA. The two others were former House members, one of them now a city mayor. Their names were also withheld pending delivery of orders to answer charges against them.

Officials of the Office of the Ombudsman said the order to submit counter-affidavits could be served on the four elected officials on Monday after Congress has resumed session. Earlier reports said 105 congressmen, 52 governors, one vice governor and 23 mayors were named as “proponents” of the P728-million fertilizer fund. The information was based on a list submitted to Malacañang by Bolante. Assistant Ombudsman Jose de Jesus Jr. said that more elected officials could be charged over the fertilizer fund scam.

“There is no need to wait for all other cases to be completed in the fact-finding stage because these cases can stand on their own separately,” he said. Investigation on the fertilizer fund scam is expected to be completed before the end of January next year. Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez has given the investigating panel 90 days to complete its probe. – With Marvin Sy, Mike Frialde, Aurea Calica

Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi

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