Ex-DA chiefs summoned on fertilizer scam

Two former agriculture secretaries were summoned by the Senate with 14 other individuals believed to have knowledge about the P728-million fertilizer scam during today’s resumption of hearings at the Senate.

Meanwhile, the reward offered by the Senate for the arrest of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante has grown from P20,000 to P100,000.

The Senate committee on agriculture and food and the Blue Ribbon Committee summoned former secretaries Arthur Yap and Luis Lorenzo to shed light on the details of how the fertilizer budget was disbursed and clarify reports that money was used in the 2004 elections.

Senate sergeant-at-arms retired Maj. Gen. Jose Balajadia Jr. said his office had served subpoenas to Yap and Lorenzo at their last known addresses. It would be the sixth hearing of the joint committees on the matter.

A member of Yap’s household refused to receive the Senate’s subpoena, while a security officer of San Lorenzo Village in Makati City said Lorenzo no longer lives there.

These developments fueled speculation that Yap and Lorenzo were planning to ignore today’s hearings.

Also summoned to the Senate were Agriculture Undersecretaries Belinda Gonzales and Edmund Sana, Assistant Secretary Felix Jose Montes, former presidential adviser for the coconut industry Ibarra Poliquit, Jose Barredo and May Faustino.

Balajadia said summonses were also served to Kevin Obed Apostol, Dr. Mary Jane Fabian, Edilberto Apostol, Jimmy Paule, Lenny Aquino and Rose Lingan Florendo.

Faustino owns the Faustino Farm, which, according to official documents, supplied fertilizer to some areas. Barredo issued an affidavit last year detailing how some congressmen and local officials benefited from the scam.

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, who chairs the Senate committee on agriculture, said a female elected official will testify on these transactions and with whom they were made.

"Tomorrow will be one of the more important hearings that we will have despite the fact that Mr. Bolante is arriving. There are a few surprise witnesses," Magsaysay said.

The reward money for the immediate arrest of Bolante reached the P100,000 mark as of 1 p.m. yesterday, quintupling the initial bounty of P20,000 that had been laid out Tuesday by Magsaysay.

Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senators Sergio Osmeña III and Joker Arroyo committed P20,000 each and the funds for the bounty grew with other contributions made by friends and anonymous individuals. — Christina Mendez