Fertilizer rap sheet: Dead man included

MANILA, Philippines - A dead man will be charged with plunder and other offenses before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly taking part in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam in 2004.

Last week, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro signed on behalf of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez a resolution finding probable cause to charge in court Gumersindo Lasam, who died two years ago after two men on a motorcycle ambushed him while he was on his way to his farm in Barangay Basi West, Solana, Cagayan province.

At the time of his death, Lasam was Department of Agriculture (DA) regional director for Cagayan Valley.

He was 63. The motive behind the killing was not known.

The STAR and other newspapers carried stories of Lasam’s ambush on April 15, 2009.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is preparing plunder, graft and other criminal charges against those accused of involvement in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Former agriculture secretary Luis “Cito” Lorenzo and former undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante allegedly masterminded the scam and allowed the fund misuse.

Lorenzo, Bolante and former assistant secretary Ibarra Poliquit Jr. will each face charges of plunder.

Charges of malversation of public funds will be filed against former DA regional directors Dennis Araullo, Cesar Rodriguez, Ricardo Oblena, Leo Cañeda, Oscar Parawan, Roger Chio, Sumail Sekak, and Eduardo Lecciones Jr.

Deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael told The STAR the physical preparation for the actual filing of charges before the Sandiganbayan will take a little time since they have to reproduce evidence of about 37 case folders containing more or less 150 pages each.

“We are in the process of preparing the paperwork,” he said.

Micael said the cases could be filed as early as next week.

The OSP needs to reproduce each and every document for every respondent, he added.

Micael said the OSP will file more or less 27 information before the Sandiganbayan covering dozens of respondents for plunder, graft, malversation and technical malversation of public funds.

The voluminous records include the Senate’s investigation report on the fertilizer fund scam and other documentary evidence, he added.

Micael said the OSP is mulling the creation of a panel of prosecutors to handle the fertilizer fund cases.

Once the complaints are filed, the Sandiganbayan will raffle the cases to different divisions, he added.

Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the filing of plunder charges against Lorenzo and Bolante, along with Poliquit, a number of regional directors, several former lawmakers and some private respondents.

Some P56.64 million of the P728 million in fertilizer funds allegedly transferred to the regional field units in 2004 for the so-called Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Program have not been accounted for. –With Michael Punongbayan