Gordon to Bolante: Tell the truth

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today warned former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante, alleged architect of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, to stop spinning tales and tell the truth, or face indefinite detention inside the Senate compound.

Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said the next hearing scheduled tomorrow would be a make-or-break one for Bolante as his fate - whether he would be cited in contempt by the Senate - will depend on the testimonies he will give.

"Bolante should tell the truth in tomorrow's hearing. He should stop trying to run circles around the members of the committee because his continued freedom depends on what he would be willing to tell us tomorrow," he said.

Bolante and other past and present agriculture regional directors are expected to meet again in a Senate hearing scheduled tomorrow. Also expected to attend are officials of the Anti-Money Laundering Council and private bank executives.

"If Bolante would keep to his evasive statements, then he would be cited for contempt and be detained in the Senate indefinitely. He would be arrested and detained right here in the premises of the Senate or wherever we decide to bring him and will remain there until he decides to be more cooperative," Gordon added.

The senator noted that the senators are already incensed with the former agriculture official's evasiveness in answering questions.

"There has been a motion to cite Mr. Bolante in contempt because of his evasiveness and what appears to some members of the committee as outright lying. The Senate's contempt order is just waiting to be served," he said.

Gordon scorned the former undersecretary for being cagey whenever they attempted to go into details in matters concerning his stint at the Department of Agriculture (DA), as director of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), his foreign travels and several bank accounts.

"There are a lot of things that matter which he, allegedly, cannot remember. You can really see that he is being evasive. Who would not remember earning P200,000 a month? He evades things like that," he said.

Last Tuesday, three regional directors - Roger Chio of Region 11, Leo Caneda of Region 8 and Ricardo Oblena of Region 7 - contradicted Bolante's claim that he had nothing to do with the implementation of the project.

Chio said it was Bolante who signed a purchase request for 2,000 pieces of foliar fertilizer at P1,500 each. While Oblena testified that Bolante had asked him to replace a non-government organization, named by the Kalibo local government as recipient of the funds, with the NGO National Organization for Agricultural Enhancement and Productivity Inc.

Bolante's evasion was further magnified when he claimed that he could not recall how much salary he was getting from the GSIS and Gordon had to remind him that it was a hefty P200,000 as records would show.