Press Release
November 27, 2008

Senate resumes probe on P728-M fertilizer fund scam

The Senate will resume tomorrow (Nov. 28) its investigation into the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, with former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante expected to meet once again his former regional directors called to shed light on the controversy.

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon said these former DA regional directors called to testify before the Senate blue ribbon committee which he heads were then directly in charge of implementing the questioned project.

"We have heard in the recent hearing the testimonies of the regional directors, particularly that of Dir. (Ricardo) Oblena, which if proven to be true, would really pin down Bolante," he said.

"The testimonies of the other directors who were directly in charge at the time this alleged irregular transaction happened could shed more light to the committee's search to find out the truth," he added.

The former DA regional directors who were invited for Friday's hearing are Dir. Hector Sales of Region V, Dir. Eduardo Lecciones of Region VII, Dir. Sumael Sekak of Region XII, Dir. Reinerio Belarmino Jr. of Region I, and Dir. Dennis Araullo of Region IV-A, now DA assistant secretary for operations.

The blue ribbon chair also said he expects the presence of Maritess Aytona, the alleged "runner" in the fertilizer scam, as he had already directed the National Bureau of Investigation to locate her whereabouts.

"It is important that we have Ms. Aytona at the hearing. She was purportedly Bolante's runner, the one who proposed a 30-30-40 sharing scheme (30% for the congressman, 30% for Bolante, 40% for the purchase of the fertilizer) for the P5-million fertilizer allocation. That makes her a significant character in our investigation," Gordon said.

He added that the committee has also called for Atty. Vicente Aquino, executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat, to shed light on Bolante's questionable accounts under investigation.

Also invited to attend the hearing are the branch managers of the banks where Bolante said he had accounts when he was with the DA and the Government Service Insurance System.

They are Catherine Buntua of RCBC Legaspi Village branch, Grace Lucero of BPI Legaspi Village branch, Raul Arcilla of Union Bank GSIS branch, and Thet de Guzman of Union Bank Pasay City branch.

Gordon said he expects that on Friday's hearing, the resource persons invited would be more straightforward in answering the questions presented before them to help the committee make the proper recommendations regarding the issue.

"We're doing this investigation in aid of legislation. I want to tell everybody that we are not here to be feared, but we do want frankness. Answer the question and make the explanation so that we don't have to get the ire of some of our members here," he said.

"I'd like to finish this investigation as soon as we can, but we are not going to leave any stone unturned. The committee will always be fair. But please do not abuse the patience of the chair as well as the committee insofar as our search for truth is concerned," he added.

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