ailing ex gma cabinet official spills the beans on gmas bs while 2 healthy ex gma officials follow garci and hides in the us
- From: "r calderon" <socculturefilipino@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 27 Oct 2005 07:03:56 -0700
Ex-Budget chief spills beans on funds scam
P1-B CASH FOR DA ON POLL DISTRIBUTION TO CONGRESSMEN AND LOCAL EXECS
By Angie M. Rosales
Friday, 10 28, 2005
Moves were made by Malacañang to ensure that the presidential couple's
alleged bagman, former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc"
Bolante, along with former Agriculture Secretary Luis "Cito"
Lorenzo would not testify before the Senate, knowing that resigned
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Sec-retary Emilia Boncodin
would tell all and pin them all down, including President Arroyo in the
P3-billion fertilizer funds scam.
Up to the last minute, Palace gofer and staunch ally of Mrs. Arroyo,
Wilfredo Villarama, was in the hospital room where Boncodin's
deposition was being taken.
The deposition was enough to pin down the two former officials on the
alleged misuse of billions due farmers for their fertilizer needs.
Boncodin confirmed the release of funds amounting to some P3 billion,
which was said to have been diverted to help bankroll the candidacy of
Mrs. Arroyo and her adminis-tration candidates in last year's
elections.
She confirmed making more than P1-billion funds in cash available a
week before the campaign period started, upon the initiative of the
Department of Agriculture (DA), for distribution to 105 congressmen and
53 provincial and 23 municipal officials.
Boncodin formally entered into the records of the Senate panel
investigating the fertilizer scam her testimony as gleaned from her
deposition, which was taken by a team led by Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr.,
chairman of the committee on agriculture and food.
The former Budget secretary even vowed to support her sworn statements
by submitting evidence and sworn affidavits while also committing
herself to testify before the Senate panel and allow senators full play
in grilling her.
The alleged fertilizer scam is believed to be among the issues that led
Boncodin in deciding to sever her ties with Mrs. Arroyo and cut short
her career in government.
"I am banking on her promise to attend the third and final hearing to
supplement her testimony when her medical condition improves,"
Magsaysay said.
Boncodin, currently being treated for an ailment at the National Kidney
Institute, was sought by Magsaysay's committee to shed light on the
issue on the heels of the flight abroad of Lorenzo and Bolante hours
before the Senate hearing last Wednesday.
She headed the DBM when reportedly hundreds of millions worth of
fertilizer funds of the DA were released last year and exposed as
having been illegally diverted by Agriculture officials.
Even as Boncodin agreed to subject herself to the Senate's legal
process while she is under medical care, she is said to have agreed to
also vouch for the validity of her claims by disclosing the
nitty-gritty of the issue, based on what she knows personally, as well
as information that can be found in official documents, the senator
said.
The former Budget chief made the assurance even in the presence of
Villarama, a former Bulacan congressman, who witnessed the entire
deposition proceedings.
It was not immediately known why Villarama was at the hospital room of
Boncodin.
Reporters who covered the proceedings were not allowed to enter the
room due to the sensitivity of her condition and were merely told to
remain at the hotel lobby.
Sources, however, managed to take a video using a mobile phone where
Villarama was seen as opening the door in the room of Boncodin for
Magsaysay and even escorted the senator on his way out after conducting
the proceedings.
Based on the transcript of the proceedings, the former DBM secretary
corroborated reports and claims made by previous Senate witnesses,
including those from the Commission on Audit (CoA), that some P728
million was ordered released to the DA under a special allotment
release order (Saro) dated Feb. 3, 2004.
It was for the purchase of farm imputs by the DA and was charged
against the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (Afma), she
said.
Boncodin said the DBM made two fund releases on the same day, apart
from the P728 million, the amount of P291.2 million, which was placed
in the DA's account at the Landbank of the Philippines, representing 40
percent of the allotment released under the Afma.
"Subsequent releases for the NCA (notice of cash allocation) were
made also upon the request of the DA as a separate NCA or as part of
the common fund that is usually authorized by the agencies on a regular
basis," she added.
The former government official steered clear of any perceived
involvement in the alleged anomalous transactions regarding the use of
the fertilizer funds.
She told Magsaysay, under oath, that the availability of the questioned
funds would not have been made by the DBM had there been no formal
requests made by the DA.
Boncodin told the senator that, indeed, the DA attached to its formal
requests as "Annex A" in the Feb. 3, 2004 Saro a list containing
105 congressional districts, 53 provinces and 23 municipalities.
"I would like to state that the release made by the DBM was for farm
inputs which, in our understanding, could incorporate fertilizers,
seeds and even insecticides.
"But the actual purpose for which this is used, will, of course
depend on the DA. So I am making this statement of facts to be able to
clarify and validate the releases pertaining to the P728-million Afma
fund," she said.
Magsaysay said he will get the testimonies of all the personalities
involved including Bolante and Lorenzo, the reason, he said, he is
planning to hold one or two more public hearings to give them a chance
to appear.
"By then, I am hopeful that the Supreme Court (SC) will have already
handed down its decision on the constitutionality of Eexcutive Order
(EO) 464 to allow the summoned DA officials to present their position
on the issue," he added.
Magsaysay noted that in the case of presidential adviser Ibarra
Poliquit and Assistant Secretary Felix Jose Montes, they invoked EO
464.
"It is lamentable that they would shield themselves and embrace the
coverage of EO 464 so that they can escape appearance in today's
hearing. It is likewise unfortunate that, despite our several
invitations, the government which is proudly espousing transparency and
accountability would not accord permission to several officials to shed
light and contribute to the attainment of truth by invoking the
oppressive order," he said.
Malacañang quickly came to the defense of Lorenzo and Bolante, saying
their absence in the Senate inquiry was a "determined" move to
ensure that Mrs. Arroyo would not be subjected to a legislative inquiry
not in aid of legislation but of destabilization.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, however, during a press briefing
stressed that the President should not be accused of sweeping
corruption in her government under the rug.
"Of course, we have to determine again the precedent to these
(congressional hearings) because of the investigation being conducted
by several committees in the Senate as well as the House (in the
past)," Ermita said.
He explained that if only Bolante and Lorenzo, who figured in the
alleged misuse of the P3-billion fertilizers funds that were allegedly
diverted to the campaign kitty of Mrs. Arroyo in last year's
presidential elections, were still in the government, the President
would have obliged them to appear in the Senate due to her high respect
for the legislators, being a separate and independent branch of the
government.
"They (critics) are suggesting that the two (Lorenzo and Bolante)
committed corrupt practices. But they are private citizens,"
Magsaysay said, adding it is wrong for the public to judge Lorenzo and
Bolante guilty of corruption because this is only a charge being raised
in the media.
"It's wrong to accuse them of such, we don't have a verdict yet on
whether they have indeed committed corrupt practices except in the
media. Although they were absent in the Senate probe, we cannot presume
them to be guilty," he added.
Meanwhile, a ranking DA official also yesterday claimed that the list
of project proponents that lawyer Frank Chavez is using is not the
department's official list.
During a phone interview, Assistant Secretary for Administration and
Finance Jose Felix Montes said the genuine list has a bar code of the
DBM.
Montes added the DA's official list does not have the names of Makati
City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Las Pinas City Rep. Cynthia Villar.
He said the request for allocation in the Farm Inputs and Implements
Program (FIIP) done by the congressmen, governors and mayors was
coursed through the DA's regional office, not from the DA's finance
office.
Montes added the DA central office transferred the agriculture funds to
the DA regional field units based on the official list from the DBM.
He said the regional office of the department had the full control over
the project implementation in which the funds that were released for
the proponents were disbursed by the DA's regional office. With Sherwin
C. Olaes and Mel Cabigting
.
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