Militant groups ask Ombudsman to charge GMA over fertilizer scam

MANILA, Philippines -  Stressing that former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo no longer enjoys immunity from suit, complainants in the 2004 fertilizer fund scam are now asking the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate and charge her with plunder before the Sandiganbayan.

In a 23-page motion filed yesterday, the groups Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Pambansang Lakas ng mga Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), National Federation of Peasant Women (NFPW), and Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL) said the anti-graft court erred when it did not initiate a probe for the purpose of recommending impeachment.

The militant organizations also asked for a partial reconsideration of the ombudsman’s March 11, 2011 resolution finding probable cause to indict former agriculture secretary Luis Lorenzo, former undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante and several others for plunder.

The groups, citing Senate investigation reports on the fertilizer fund scam, insisted that Arroyo should also be held liable for the misuse of P728 million in government funds seven years ago.

They said Senate committee reports “made a categorical finding that (she) must be held accountable in the mismanagement of the fertilizer fund.”

“While the committee found no evidence directly linking the president to the fertilizer scam, the acts of the former undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, Mr. Jocelyn Isada Bolante and his cohorts, now Undersecretary Belinda Gonzales and now GSIS vice president Ibarra Poliquit, are deemed acts of the president since they acted within the scope of their authorities given to them by then Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. Since there was no reprobation or disapproval coming from president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regarding their actions, it can be easily inferred that the President acquiesced to such acts,” the groups, quoting the Senate reports, said.

The complainants said former budget secretary Emilia Boncodin even testified during the Senate hearings that Arroyo had knowledge of the misuse of funds and of their release, and did not lift a finger to discipline or even restrain or disapprove her officials from committing the criminal acts.

They said that although there is no direct evidence that would directly implicate Arroyo in the fertilizer scam, she should be held liable for plunder of the P728-million GMA (Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) fertilizer fund on the basis of the circumstantial evidence presented and the doctrine of qualified political agency.

The Office of the Ombudsman has already filed plunder, graft and other criminal charges against those who were allegedly involved in the fertilizer fund scam but has deferred the filing of cases against Lorenzo and Bolante pending the resolution of the motions for reconsideration they filed.