Farmers tired of Bolante's fake illness

MANILA, Philippines –  Farmers tired of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante’s “acting sick” said yesterday that the former official is “merely delaying the inevitable.”

The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) insisted that senators should now press Bolante to “start facing the music of his misdeeds” and answer issues surrounding the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

They said medical tests he underwent did not indicate any serious illness.

“All he has to do even if he does have multiple gastric ulcers or not is answer the question if indeed he is involved in the fertilizer fund scam. That is answerable by a simple yes or no. Then the details can follow,” said Feliz Paz, national council member of KMP and chairman of KMP-Bikol.

“All we want is the truth, and we want it now. We have waited for so long and we will not allow it to be delayed further. Besides, when he was in the US, he has no complaints but when he got here it is as if (he is) going to die. The doctors in (St. Luke’s Medical Center) even said that he is not in any danger.

“Just tell the truth and account for what you have done, then your conscience will be free. That is our advice to Jocjoc. If he does not follow it, then his moral sickness will just get worse,” he said.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) also joined calls for Bolante to get out of the hospital and face the Senate investigation.

Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said that testifying at a Senate investigation should not be a “strenuous activity” for Bolante.

Reyes believed that Bolante might only be taking his time waiting for the Court of Appeals (CA) to issue a decision that would nullify the Senate’s warrant against him.

He urged the Senate to order a government doctor to verify Bolante’s real condition at the SLMC.

“St. Luke’s should be circumspect in issuing statements that might fall into the Bolante plan. A reputable medical institution like theirs must not allow itself to be used by shady political maneuvers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bolante’s medical bulletin said that the stated findings on the ex-DA official’s medical examination indicate “benign” illnesses, which treatment might be done through prescription.

Even the tests undertaken by Bolante in the past few days could be done on an out-patient basis, said doctors, who asked not to be identified.

Dr. Fidel Chua, administrator of the Ospital ng Maynila, explained that multiple gastric ulcers could probably indicate a bleeding inside the stomach, which could be due to severe stress.

In the latest medical bulletin signed by Dr. Romeo Saavedra and read by SLMC spokesperson Marilen Lagniton before media last Monday afternoon, the series of tests done on Bolante showed “the presence of multiple gastric ulcers, esophagitis, and erosive gastritis, which tested positive for H-pylori.”

“The colonoscopy showed the presence of multiple polyps, which were all removed,” the second medical bulletin also stated.

“The abdominal CT scan also showed a suspicious solitary nodule on the right adrenal gland, which necessitates further examination. An endocrinologist has been called on board,” the medical bulletin stated.

Bolante’s hospital bills for eight days are now estimated at P200,000. 

Bolante stays in a “large private room” on the second floor of the hospital, at a cost of P11,000 a day.

Aside from a cardiologist, the former DA official now has an endocrinologist and a neurologist attending to him, Dr. Romeo Saavedra said.

Bolante is also expected to undergo a conventional coronary angiogram today, he said.