Philippines: Fertilizer fund scandal still hits fan!

This is a case of pass the buck down instead of up as it should go!


Ping: Summon DA’s Yap‘We will prove Joc Joc is a liar’
BY DENNIS GADIL
SEN. Panfilo Lacson yesterday asked the Blue Ribbon committee to summon Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap over claims by former agriculture undersecretary for finance Jocelyn "Joc Joc" Bolante that Yap could be responsible for the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.
But Blue Ribbon chair Alan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Mar Roxas said Bolante is not yet off the hook. They said they are awaiting documents and further testimonies.
Lacson said Yap must answer queries on why he failed to monitor and prevent the fertilizer project from turning into a fund scam as DA undersecretary for operations.
Bolante on Thursday told senators he was not aware that there was an anomaly in the implementation of the fertilizer program but said Yap, then undersecretary for operations, should have known about it.
Yap held that post February 2004 to August 2004 when fertilizer funds intended for purchase of farm implements for farmers supposedly found their way to congressmen and local executive officials loyal to President Arroyo.
Bolante told the Senate panel that after approving the list of recipients and the release of funds, it was the task of the DA undersecretary of operations or the DA regional director to monitor the implementation.
"Sa mga susunod na hearing... ihaharap na namin sa kanya (Bolante) ang mga dokumento, mga opisyal mula sa Department of Agriculture... We’ll have three or more hearings at least na kaharap niya mga tao, kaharap nya mga dokumento. Tingnan natin kung makukumbinsi niya ang publiko," Cayetano said.
Roxas said the next Senate hearing on the fertilizer fund probe will serve to unmask the claims of Bolante that no higher authority was behind the controversial scam.
Bolante on Thursday cleared President Arroyo, saying the implementation of the P728-million farm input-farm implement program was implemented without her approval.
"This shows that the thief is related to the liar. In the next Senate hearings, where we will call DA employees, we will find out who really is lying and who stole from the people," said Roxas.
Roxas stressed the need to put on record Bolante’s testimony, but said the truthfulness of his claims can be seen in the documents gathered by the Senate and by the testimony of other people from the DA.
"The evidence is there in the 2006 Senate committee report. Yesterday, we gave Joc Joc the chance to air his side. In the next hearing, we will see the inconsistencies in Joc Joc’s testimony. We will find out who is lying, because one couldn’t say that ‘it’s black’ and the other ‘it’s white.’ There is only one right answer," he said.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, head of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said the statement of Bolante clearing President Arroyo of any knowledge in the fund scandal is "simply unbelievable."
"Everything that happens in government, especially with that kind of amount, emanates from her (Arroyo) so it is impossible for her not to know anything about this," he said. – With Gerard Naval