EDITORIAL - Redemption

The criminal case that has finally been filed in court against those behind the P728-million fertilizer fund scam is designed to be dismissed, according to those after the head of the Ombudsman.

Even if there might be some basis for this observation, the principal accused in the case, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante, should not rule out the possibility that he could be convicted and spend the rest of his life in prison. The same goes for former agriculture secretary Luis “Cito” Lorenzo, whose approval, being Bolante’s superior, is presumed to have been needed for the release of the fertilizer funds to political allies of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her campaign for the presidency in 2004.

Since flight is widely seen in this country as an admission of guilt, Bolante and Lorenzo have been convicted in the court of public opinion during the years when their whereabouts were unknown. Perhaps this doesn’t matter to either Bolante or Lorenzo as long as they believe that they are insulated from conviction by a judicial court. But the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and the recent filing in court of the fertilizer fund case should indicate to Bolante and Lorenzo that their fortunes could soon change for the worse.

The Holy Week should be a good time for the two men, as well as their co-accused in the case, to ponder the wisdom of coming clean on one of the biggest scandals of the previous administration. Certain quarters have called on Bolante in particular to disclose what he knows. Since he is considered as the principal accused, there are debates on whether Bolante can qualify as a state witness – unless he can point to higher-ups who gave the order for the alleged diversion of fertilizer funds for partisan political purposes.

Telling what he knows could trim several years off the sentence of anyone found guilty in this case. But more than cutting a deal to reduce the expected penalty, the Lenten season should remind those hiding dirty secrets that there is redemption in coming clean, that the truth will set them free.