Ombudsman files plunder raps vs 'operators' in
P728-M fertilizer scam
MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday filed plunder charges against the suspected operators behind the P728-million fertilizer fund scam that allegedly benefited the election campaign kitty of former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro ordered the filing of charges against former Agriculture Secretary Luis Ramon “Cito” P. Lorenzo, Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante, Assistant Secretary Ibarra T. Poliquit and other ranking officials of the Department of Agriculture.
“The Acting Ombudsman earlier found probable cause to indict Lorenzo and Bolante, in conspiracy with other high-ranking DA officials for plunder. The respondents, however, filed their separate motions for reconsideration but these were denied by the Office,” the agency’s spokesperson, lawyer Mary Rawnsle Lopez said in a statement.
The motions for reconsideration filed by former congresswoman Nanette Castelo-Daza, former Marinduque governor Carmencita Reyes and former Catanduanes governor Leandro B. Verceles, Jr. were likewise denied.
These officials will be charged with violation of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).
Criminal charges for malversation were also filed against Agriculture Regional Directors Cesar D. Rodriguez, Dennis B. Araullo, Ricardo D. Oblena, Leo P. Caneda, Oscar O. Parawan, Roger C. Chio, Sumail K. Sekak and Eduardo B. Lecciones, Jr.
According to Lopez, Casimiro also ordered the dismissal from the service of Poliquit, Oblena, Araullo, Caneda, Parawan, Rodolfo M. Guieb, Balagtas K. Torres, Abelardo Bragas, Felix Ramos, Ofelia Montilla and Gregorio Sangalang, all of the DA; and Rodolfo G. Malinana, Ireneo C. Del Rosario, Roger M. Pitajen, and Herbert DLS Evangelista, Sr., all local officials of the provincial government of Catanduanes.
The fertilizer fund scam was one of the biggest anomalies that marred the nine-year term of former president Arroyo. The money was misused because the papers covering the funding made it appear that congressional districts received funds for fertilizer support for farmers. Even lawmakers from urban districts, like Makati City’s Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Las Pinas’s Cynthia Villar, were made to appear as having received such funds for their districts. Locsin and Villar were the first to denounce the scam on the floor of Congress.
At least three witnesses who compiled documents on the scam have been killed in the years since it was exposed.
(Previous issue)
The MANILA TIMES.net
Fertilizer ‘scammers’ fall
(Clockwise from extreme left) Representatives Carmencita Reyes, Nanette Daza, Oscar Gozos and Federico Sandoval
Lawmakers face graft raps before Sandiganbayan
By John Constantine G. Cordon, Reporter
By John Constantine G. Cordon, Reporter
A TOTAL of 25 counts of graft, malversation and illegal use of public funds have been filed before the Sandiganbayan over the alleged P728-million fertilizer fund scam against four lawmakers and a number of regional executive directors of the Agriculture department.
Informations transmitted by the Office of the Ombudsman to the anti-graft court showed that former Representatives Oscar Gozos (Fourth District of Batangas), Federico Sandoval (Lone District of Navotas City in Metro Manila), Nanette Daza (Fourth District of Quezon City) and Carmencita Reyes (Lone District of Marinduque) were slapped with charges of violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and illegal use of public funds (technical malversation).
The Office of the Ombudsman charged each lawmaker for allegedly receiving cash that was part of the P728-million fertilizer fund allocation under the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani of then-President and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo of the Second District of Pampanga.
Reyes allegedly received P5 million and the three other lawmakers, P3 million each, which all of them used, as purchase orders showed, to buy agricultural equipment such as wood shredders and chippers.
The money was allegedly disbursed from the Agriculture department to regional executive directors who handed the cash to the lawmakers.
The cash was reportedly used to fund the campaign kitty of Mrs. Arroyo when she ran for president in the 2004 elections, which she eventually won.
The Ombudsman found out that former Agriculture Undersecretary Joceyln “Joc-Joc” Bolante orchestrated the disbursement of the fertilizer fund with the approval of then-Agriculture Secretary Luis Ramon “Cito” Lorenzo.
The regional directors of the Agriculture department who were also charged with graft and malversation were Sumail Sekak (Cotabato City), Leo Cañeda (Tacloban City), Dennis Araullo (Quezon City), Oscar Parawan (Zamboanga City), Cesar Rodriguez (San Fernando City), Roger Chio (Davao City), Eduardo Lecciones (Tagbilaran City Unit 7) and Ricardo Oblena (Tagbilaran City Unit 6).
During an earlier interview, acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro said that the filing of the charges before the Sandiganbayan took time because of the fact-checking process that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) undertook.
The Office of the Ombudsman affirmed the filing of the charges on April 15.
But only on May 6 did the OSP transmit the charges to the Sandiganbayan.
At press time, only the graft and malversation charges against the four lawmakers and the regional executive directors of the Agriculture department were sent to the anti-graft court.
