Magsaysay urges US gov’t to reject Bolante asylum bid

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the committee on agriculture and food, urged the United States government to reject the reported asylum bid of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante on the grounds that he is facing several criminal cases in the Philippines.

Magsaysay has provided US Ambassador Kristie Kenney copies of the Commission on Audit (COA) report on the multimillion-peso fertilizer fund scam allegedly involving Bolante and his own committee’s report on the investigation.

Lawyers from the University of the Philippines Law Center had also provided the US government with a copy of the COA report and other information on the various cases filed against Bolante with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Magsaysay said he is optimistic the US justice system would be able to come up with a favorable judgment for the Philippine government after going over the various documents they provided.

"We are awaiting the good justice system of the American government and the fairness of the judge. This is not a political refugee. They are handling somebody who has a lot of alleged criminal duties when he was an undersecretary at the agricultural department for almost four years," Magsaysay said.

It is still unclear though whether Bolante is actually seeking asylum in the US as no official report has been released regarding his arrest in Los Angeles last July 7.

Bolante’s US visa was canceled upon his arrival at the Los Angeles airport and he was reportedly detained afterwards.

The Senate conducted several hearings into the fertilizer fund scam and eventually found Bolante principally accountable for the alleged misuse of the funds intended to benefit farmers.

In the COA report, several anomalies were discovered in the use of the fertilizer funds, including the purchase of fertilizers unsuitable for agricultural purposes, the failure to comply with the mandated bidding process and the use of deceased individuals as program beneficiaries.

"The more the judge and the lawyers of the (US) Immigration know about this individual, the more they can decide with fairness and justice," Magsaysay said. "So if you give them more information objectively then I’m sure that the American justice system as we know it will vindicate itself by not granting him (Bolante) political asylum," he added.