GMA responsible for DA fund scam — Escudero

President Arroyo is ultimately responsible for the alleged dissipation of billions in fertilizer and farm input funds, House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said yesterday.

"It was she who released the funds, which were used to buy political and electoral support for her shortly before the May 2004 presidential election. In the final analysis, she should answer for the misuse of the money," he said.

He said the President could be held liable in an impeachment process or after her term ends in 2010, when her immunity from suit expires and when she could be brought to court to face charges.

He added that while Mrs. Arroyo’s decision to order the investigation of officials of the Department of Agriculture was a welcome development, she in the end should be the one to answer for the mishandling of fertilizer funds, road users’ tax collections and other taxpayers’ money during the election period in 2004.

Rep. Joel Villanueva of the party-list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption, who is a member of the minority, described the President’s decision to order an investigation as a "mere palabas (show)."

"If they were serious in finding the truth or helping the Senate find the truth in this whole mess, Malacañang could have forced Jocjoc Bolante and his underlings to appear before senators. But the Palace prevented the truth from coming out through Executive Order 464," he said.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and the committee on agriculture have recommended plunder charges against Bolante.

The two committees also held Mrs. Arroyo responsible for the alleged diversion of fertilizer and farm input funds.

Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante, former agriculture undersecretary, upon the approval of then agriculture secretary Luis Lorenzo, was the one who requested fertilizer and farm inputs funds from Malacañang between February and April in 2004.

He and Lorenzo, and their underlings, including former assistant secretaries Belinda Gonzales and Ibarra Poliquit Jr., have evaded Senate invitations and summonses by invoking EO 464, though Bolante and Lorenzo are no longer government officials and therefore not covered by the executive order.

The former agriculture secretary and his under-secretary are reportedly still "hiding" in the United States.

EO 464 prohibits Cabinet members and other executive officials and employees, including soldiers and policemen, from testifying in Senate investigations without Mrs. Arroyo’s prior approval.

Gonzales has been promoted to undersecretary, inheriting Bolante’s job, while Poliquit has been given a juicier post, that of a vice president in the Government Service Insurance System.

Fund releases to Bolante for fertilizer and farm inputs totaled P2.8 billion, including P728 million exclusively for fertilizer. Of the releases, P544 million came from recovered Marcos wealth, which under the law should be used only for agrarian reform.

According to the Commission on Audit, as much as 80 percent of fertilizer funds was skimmed by corrupt lawmakers, governors, mayors, and agriculture officials through overpricing of liquid fertilizer by up to 1,300 percent.