'Senate can still arrest Bolante'

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate sees no legal obstacle in pursuing another investigation into the P728-million fertilizer scam and forcing the appearance of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante in the probe, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said yesterday.

Santiago made the stand amid the conflicting legal claims by her colleagues and Bolante’s camp questioning the move to have another inquiry notwithstanding the earlier recommendation of the Senate to file charges against the former agriculture official.

Santiago said Congress is a continuing body unlike the presidency.

She contradicted claims by Sen. Joker Arroyo and some of her colleagues that the arrest order issued in the 13th Congress by the Senate committee on agriculture is no longer valid.

The validity of the arrest order should not be a problem at all, Santiago said, because the Senate can repeatedly issue the order until the subject of the warrant –-Bolante –-appears before the body.

Santiago said the Senate, through the Blue Ribbon committee, can start a hearing anew but warned her colleagues against grandstanding on the issue.

“Cross-examination should be minimal. Let’s just focus on how this probe can be in aid of legislation,” Santiago said over radio dzBB.

Santiago noted the Senate agriculture committee then under former senator Ramon Magsaysay, had already issued a committee report recommending the filing of graft charges against Bolante before the Ombudsman.

Bolante should not hide anymore and resort to forum shopping by questioning the Senate’s order before the Court of Appeals, she said.

At the same time, Santiago urged Bolante, still confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center following his arrival from the US, to face the Senate if he really has nothing to hide.

“For me, it’s better to reopen the case so we can give Mr. Bolante (the chance) to clear his name. There is a need for us and the public to hear his side on this issue,” Santiago said.

If Bolante is innocent, Santiago said, he should voluntarily allow himself to be investigated and reveal his side of the story on the fertilizer scam.

Bolante, tagged as the “architect” of the fertilizer scam, was accused of diverting the agriculture department’s fertilizer fund allegedly to finance the campaign of President Arroyo during the May 2004 elections.

Bolante fled to the United States two years ago to avoid the Senate investigation into the scam, but US authorities denied his request for asylum and deported him.

Bolante was arrested by US authorities when he arrived in Los Angeles in 2006 after his visa was cancelled at the request of the Senate.

Bolante issued a statement upon arrival, saying that he was ready to testify before a “proper forum.”

Senators are pressing Bolante to appear before them and testify over the fertilizer scam.

Santiago said Bolante’s decision to stay away from the Senate inquiry only creates the presumption that he is guilty.

“He said when he arrived in the country that he’s ready to face any investigation in the proper forum, but he should not choose the forum in which he’ll face. That’s forum-shopping,” Santiago said.

Santiago also chided Bolante for using his health condition – sleep apnea, heartburn and fluctuating blood pressure - as an excuse to evade the inquiry. “Those are very normal diseases and they cannot possibly be called devastating much less terminal or life threatening,” she said.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, on the other hand, said the congressmen and local officials tagged as recipients of the supposed fertilizer fund need not appear before the Senate inquiry.

“We are not saying that they should be compelled to appear at the Senate hearing. What we mean is if their names were mentioned as among the recipients, they should feel obliged to make an explanation,” Pimentel said.

“It cannot be that they would just keep quiet as if nothing has happened. I think that is not a right attitude,” he said.