Ombudsman had cleared agriculture official in P728-million fertilizer scam

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has given clearance to an agriculture official they have recommended to be charged with plunder in 2009, or five years after the P728-million fertilizer fund scam was filed in 2004.

A copy of a document obtained by The STAR showed that Gumersindo Lasam – whom the Ombudsman wants indicted – was given a clearance in May 2009, upon the request of Ms. Josephine Tuliao of Lingkod Bayan awards.

The Ombudsman clearance was signed by Lourdes Paloma-Salazar, graft investigation officer II, where the phrase “by authority of the Ombudsman” was indicated in the document, numbered 09-16541.

“This certifies that as of April 27, 2009, Gumersindo Lasam of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Tuguegarao, Cagayan, has no pending criminal and administrative cases with this office,” the document stipulated.

The clearance runs counter to the Ombudsman’s recent findings and recommendations, since the anti-graft investigating body has included him in the charge sheet to be filed at the Sandiganbayan, and amid reports he is already deceased.

Reports indicated that Lasam – who was DA regional director for Cagayan Valley - was gunned down by two motorcycle-riding men while on his way to his farm in Barangay Basi West, Solana in Cagayan province in April 2009. He was 63. Probers said the motive could be work related, personal, or even due to business and politics. The victim was eyeing a mayoral post in his native Cagayan at the time of his killing.

A ranking official in the region said they already have suspects but charges have yet to be filed.

Former police director and now Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil said they will look into reports that the killing could be connected to Lasam’s being an adverse witness in the fertilizer fund scam linking former Agriculture secretary Luis “Cito” Lorenzo and undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante.

The STAR also learned that Lasam – a career DA employee who rose from the ranks - was twice the recipient of the much-coveted Presidential Lingkod Bayan award, first in 1994 and again 15 years later - in 2009, although “posthumously.”

As per records in the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Lasam was Presidential Lingkod Bayan awardee in 1994 during the time of former President Fidel Ramos, and Presidential Lingkod Bayan awardee again in 2009.

Under the law, a person’s criminal liability – should   there be any – is extinguished upon his death. Authorities cannot indict a person who is already dead.

Criminal raps to be filed

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, in response to questions sent through text on what he would do with agriculture officials against whom the Ombudsman’s office said it would shortly file criminal charges with the Sandiganbayan, said he is still awaiting the anti-graft body’s report.

“I will wait for their recommendations before taking action. If they say I will suspend them, then I will have to suspend them,” he told The STAR yesterday.

He said of the several DA officials the Ombudsman intends to charge, only four are still with his department – Ricardo Oblena, who is detailed with his office, Leo Cañeda, who is regional director for Central Visayas, Oscar Parawan, regional director for the Davao provinces, and Roger Chio, who has retired but serves as consultant for the DA World Bank-funded Mindanao rural development project.

He said former assistant secretary Ibarra Poliquit Jr. had been transferred to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), while assistant secretary Dennis Araullo has applied for retirement three months ago.

He added that former regional directors Cesar Rodriguez, Sumail Sekak and Eduardo Lecciones Jr. have retired.

The Ombudsman’s office announced last week that after nearly seven years of preliminary investigation, it was recommending criminal charges against several DA officials, including Lasam, three former lawmakers, two former governors, and several fertilizer suppliers and agents.

Its findings were contained in a resolution signed for impeached Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez by overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro.

It said Poliquit, now a GSIS vice president, Lorenzo and Bolante would face charges for plunder and malversation of public funds, while the incumbent and former regional directors, including Araullo, would face malversation charges.

In his talk with The STAR, Alcala expressed surprise over the Ombudsman’s decision to spare a “high ranking” official from criminal charges.

The Ombudsman’s office dropped two officials, former undersecretary Belinda Gonzales and Emma Gonzales, from the charge sheet, citing lack of evidence. 

Reached for comment, Rep. Neri Colmenares of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna said officials whom the Ombudsman would formally charge before the Sandiganbayan could face suspension.

He said in criminal cases, when the information is filed the Sandiganbayan normally orders the suspension of the respondent upon motion by prosecutors.

Colmenares, who will be part of the 11-member House team that will prosecute Gutierrez in her Senate trial expected to start shortly after Congress resumes session on May 9, has slammed the Ombudsman’s office for including Lasam in its resolution for the filing of criminal charges against those involved in the fertilizer scam.

He said the inclusion of a dead man in the charge sheet meant that the Ombudsman was not really serious in indicting those who participated in the scam and the Casimiro resolution was just for show.

All’s not lost for Barredo

Meanwhile, fertilizer fund scam whistle-blower Jose Barredo can still be turned into a state witness against Lorenzo and Bolante.

However, Assistant Ombudsman and spokesperson Jose de Jesus Jr. said the self-confessed “runner” who distributed money to congressmen, governors and mayors in 2004, will have to go through the process first in order to determine if he is indeed qualified.

He explained that turning state witness means being included first as a respondent to the case who should not be the most guilty among all accused.

De Jesus noted that if his testimony will prove to be vital and will strengthen the prosecutions’ evidence against the two former DA officials, government lawyers may ask the Sandiganbayan to drop him from the list of respondents.  – With Jess Diaz, Michael Punongbayan, Charlie Lagasca