Press Release
November 26, 2008

Gordon requests action report on Ombudsman's fertilizer fund scam probe

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today asked Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to submit to the Senate blue ribbon committee he heads the action she has taken on the report of Task Force Abono that investigated the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Gordon made the formal request in a letter he sent to Gutierrez to inquire what appropriate action her office has taken against former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante and those who were implicated in the fertilizer fund scam.

"We will ask the Ombudsman why it has not acted on these recommendations," he said, mindful that the Task Force Abono has reportedly submitted its report detailing its findings and recommendations to Gutierrez more than two years ago.

"If the Ombudsman still refuses to move on these recommendations, we will ask the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct investigations into these complaints. These are serious charges and it demands that government act on it quickly," he added.

During the 13th Congress, the Senate agriculture and blue ribbon committees had forwarded its 41-page report recommending to the Ombudsman the filing of criminal and administrative charges against Bolante and other officials.

Gutierrez had also constituted Task Force Abono, initially handled by Ombudsman for Luzon Victor Fernandez, to dig deeper into the fertilizer fund anomaly.

As early as June 2006, the task force submitted its report to Gutierrez recommending the filing of graft charges against Bolante, alleged architect of the fund scam, and other allegedly erring officials.

Ombudsman investigators reportedly also found that the purchased farm equipment were overpriced by as much as 200 to 300 percent, an absence of public bidding required by law, and the illegal use of public funds.

Gordon lamented that the Ombudsman appears to be sitting on the case, adding that it has been two years since the Ombudsman investigators conducted their probe, yet Gutierrez has yet to act on the findings.

He added that should the ongoing Senate probe discover new evidence that would establish Bolante's culpability for illegally diverting the multi-million peso fund, he will forward them to the NBI and DOJ, instead of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The senator also reiterated that he is in favor of choosing the Ombudsman by election - and not by appointment - to ensure that the Ombudsman's loyalty is to the public and not to the one who appointed him or her.

"If our Constitution will be amended after the 2010 elections, I will move for a change in the manner of choosing the Ombudsman. I would like the position to be elected instead of appointed," he said.

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