Enough grounds to detain Bolante in the Senate - Gordon

The Senate blue ribbon committee today maintained that there are sufficient grounds for the arrest and detention in the Senate of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante, stressing that it was consistent with the rules of the Senate and the committee.

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon, committee chair, said that throughout the hearings of the blue ribbon panel on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, Bolante had been continuously evasive and testifying falsely as proven by the testimonies of other resource persons in the hearings.

"Before we ordered the arrest of Mr. Bolante, the members of the blue ribbon committee held a caucus and we were all convinced that Bolante had been giving us statements contradictory to the testimonies of resource persons and documents presented by them. That is clear lying and lying is a contemptuous conduct," he said.

Based on the rules of both the Senate and its blue ribbon committee, any witness may be punished for contempt by a vote of a majority of all the committee members if the witness disobeys any order of the committee, including testifying falsely or evasively.

"Such witness may be ordered by the Committee to be detained in such place as it may designate under the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms until he agrees to produce the required documents, or be sworn or to testify, or otherwise purge himself of that contempt," section 18 of Senate rules and section 6 of blue ribbon committee rules state.

The blue ribbon panel listed Bolante's statements that were contradictory to the testimonies of other resource persons or entities involved.

Gordon said Bolante had been insisting that the Farm Inputs-Farm Implements (FIFI) program was a regular program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and that he merely "downloaded" the funds to the Regional Field Unit (RFU) directors who implemented the program themselves.

However, at least three RFU directors opposed his statements, saying that the program was never done before and after year 2004.

"If Usec. Bolante was not part of the implementation, then why is his signature affixed to the letters of instruction to the regional directors and the purchase orders? Director (Ricardo) Oblena even said that Mr. Bolante called him up and instructed him to change a beneficiary of the program," Gordon noted.

Furthermore, Bolante maintained that the funds in the FIFI program were fully liquidated and that farm implements were also included under the category of farm inputs. But the Commission on Audit said the use of the funds and the manner of procurement are still improper and that implements are not classified as inputs.

Bolante also said he was only invited to be Trustee of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) by its Chairman, Bernardino Abes. However, Section 42 of Republic Act 8291 states that the members of the GSIS Board of Trustees are appointed by the President of the Philippines.

He also claimed having only four bank accounts, when Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Panfilo Lacson both obtained records of 23 and 37, respectively, bank accounts under Bolante's name.

Gordon said Bolante's "lost passport" story was another lie as the Department of Foreign Affairs issued a certificate stating that Bolante does not appear in the agency's lost and stolen passport database.

"We can always prove that Mr. Bolante has been giving us false statements. We have testimonial and documentary evidence that can prove that," he said.