Ombudsman vows to strengthen case vs ex-DA chief, Jocjoc

MANILA, Philippines - Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said yesterday her office would strengthen the plunder case it filed against former Agriculture Secretary Luis “Cito” Lorenzo and his undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante.

“Yes, we are going to comply with the order of the court. We are going to do that as directed, within 60 days from the order,” she told reporters before the start of the House appropriations committee hearing on her agency’s 2015 budget.

Morales was referring to the findings of the Sandiganbayan that there was not enough evidence to proceed with the plunder case against Lorenzo and Bolante for their alleged involvement in the P728-million fertilizer scam in 2004.

The Sandiganbayan First Division explained in a 46-page ruling officially released yesterday why it found insufficient reason or basis to charge the former agriculture undersecretary with plunder.

Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan, in the ruling, blamed the Office of the Ombudsman for failing to prove Bolante and his co-accused, former agriculture secretary Luis Lorenzo, amassed, accumulated or acquired ill-gotten wealth.

At least two Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigations had tagged Bolante as the alleged mastermind of the scam. One committee report even ventured to say that then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo could be held liable under the principle of command responsibility.

Arroyo was indicted but was dropped from the case for insufficiency of evidence.

Morales said she believes the Ombudsman’s office has a strong case.

“Yes, we have a strong case. We are not filing a case if we do not believe it is strong. By the way, it was my predecessor who filed the information. For every alleged faux pas the Ombudsman commits, we do take it personally,” she said.

The Sandiganbayan has given the Ombudsman 60 days to provide additional evidence to support its plunder charges against Lorenzo and Bolante.

“The court could already order the dismissal of the present case. However, it cannot close its eyes to the glaring badges of fraud and irregularity in the release and utilization of the P723-million fertilizer funds,” the anti-graft court said.

If it fails to come up with additional evidence or if the plunder cases are eventually junked, it can still pursue graft charges like misappropriation or technical malversation of public funds.

Like in the crime of plunder, the right to bail is not available and the maximum penalty of life imprisonment is imposable in a malversation case involving more than P22,000.

Records showed both officials and a handful of other individuals were charged before the anti-graft court in July 2011 for allegedly conspiring to amass P265.6 million out of P723 million in public funds released in February 2004 under the Farm Input Farm Implement Program.

Bolante and his fellow respondents challenged the indictment through a motion to determine probable cause and other pleadings aimed at having the plunder case dismissed.

They argued the criminal charge “is but mere guesswork of the prosecution and there is no probable cause to warrant their indictment for the crime of plunder, since the allegations are bereft of evidence to conclude that they are guilty of the same.”

In February 2004, three months before the presidential elections that year, Bolante asked Malacañang for P728 million in fertilizer funds, which he allegedly distributed to more than 100 administration allies among congressmen and local officials.

Even lawmakers in Metro Manila, where there is hardly farming, received fertilizer funds amounting to P3 million to P5 million.

A day after making the request, Bolante received the requested funds from the Department of Budget and Management in the form of a special allotment release order signed by Undersecretary Mario Relampagos.

The Commission on Audit later discovered that the funds were used to procure liquid fertilizer that was grossly overpriced.

One of the suppliers was Jo-Cris Trading, a company owned by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the multi-billion-peso pork barrel scam that took place three year to five years later, in 2007 to 2009.

Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr. are facing plunder and graft cases in connection with the pork barrel scam. They are accused of allegedly receiving hundreds of millions in kickbacks.

Among those indicted with the three senators and Napoles is Relampagos, who is still DBM undersecretary.

The Sandiganbayan, after studying the arguments raised by the defense, agreed with Bolante, even though magistrates are not inclined to dismiss the plunder charge just yet.

The magistrates noted the review of the documents submitted by the Office of the Ombudsman, along with its resolution that found probable cause to indict Bolante and the other accused of plunder, as well as the Senate Blue Ribbon committee reports, revealed the prosecution failed to establish the crime of plunder.

The prosecution detailed how the money moved from Lorenzo to Bolante to former agriculture assistant secretary Ibarra Poliquit and eventually to the accused private individuals. – With Michael Punongbayan