FERTILIZER FUND SCAM

Court orders arrest of solon, 5 others

No bail for Lanao del Norte lawmaker

1:11 am | Saturday, August 3rd, 2013

The Sandiganbayan. FILE PHOTO

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has ordered the arrest of Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo and five other persons for malversation of P5 million in public funds, in one of the hundreds of dubious transactions made in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam in 2004 allegedly orchestrated by then Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante.

Dimaporo is the fifth lawmaker to be implicated in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam after Representatives Oscar Gozos of Batangas province, Federico Sandoval of Navotas City, Nanette Castelo-Daza of Quezon City, and Carmencita Reyes of Marinduque province.

Bolante is on trial in the Sandiganbayan on charges of plunder in connection with the fertilizer fund scam.

He is accused of diverting taxpayers’ money to the 2004 campaign of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Beyond P5M

Requests for funding from the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund beyond P5 million have to be approved by the Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization.

On the recommendation of the Ombudsman, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Roland B. Jurado has denied bail to Dimaporo in the malversation charge.

But Jurado approved a P30,000 bail for Dimaporo in the charge of causing undue injury to the government.

A source said the 63-year-old lawmaker has requested that he be detained at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, as he has a heart condition.

The first hearing is set next Monday.

The Sandiganbayan issued the arrest warrant on July 31, after finding no reason to overturn the Ombudsman’s finding of probable cause to indict Dimaporo and his five codefendants for malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.

Dimaporo and his codefendants, former provincial agriculturist Isabelo Luna and private citizens Felizardo Dragon, Evangeline Ontiveros, Rosalinda Bisenio and Elmer Sayre, were accused of graft for conspiring to obtain the release of taxpayers’ money for the fictitious purchase of 10,000 bags of Saka organic fertilizer under the farm inputs and farm implements program of the Department of Agriculture.

The four private individuals were officers of Lanao Foundation Inc. (LFI), an NGO Dimaporo formed about two decades ago and which was used as conduit for the fertilizer fund.

Dimaporo and the other defendants allegedly used fake, undated inspection reports, undated acceptance reports, physical and financial status reports, and a list of farmer-beneficiaries to simulate the delivery of organic fertilizer to Dimaporo’s office and its distribution to farmers in the second district of Lanao del Norte through Lanao Foundation.

No delivery

In her decision in October 2012, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said no fertilizer was delivered and distributed “thereby giving unwarranted benefit, advantage, or preference to LFI and causing undue injury to the government.”

Dimaporo and his wife, Imelda, are also facing graft charges for the misappropriation of P50 million in state funds intended for the purchase high-breed cattle.

The cattle were supposed to be distributed to farmers, but were allegedly diverted to Dimaporo’s farm in Mamagum, Sultan Naga Dimaporo.

First posted 6:42 pm | Friday, August 2nd, 2013

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/457475/sandigan-orders-arrest-of-solon-5-others-in-fertilizer-scam

Comelec voids proclamation of Marinduque lawmaker

Comelec voids proclamation of Marinduque lawmaker

By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 12, 2013 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections

(Comelec) yesterday invalidated the proclamation of lawyer Regina Ongsiako Reyes as the winning congresswoman of Marinduque in the May 13 polls.

“The May 18 proclamation of the respondent, Regina Ongsiako Reyes, is declared null and void and without any legal force and effect,” the Comelec said in a 19-page resolution.

Voting 5-2, the Comelec junked the motion for reconsideration filed by Reyes when its First Division cancelled her certificate of candidacy after finding that she is an American citizen and lacked the one-year residency requirement in the Philippines.

The Comelec ordered the Provincial Board of Canvassers of Marinduque to proclaim petitioner Lord Allan Jay Velasco as the representative of the province’s lone district.

The poll body ruled that the votes obtained by Reyes shall be considered as “stray” votes. Velasco got 48,396 votes in the congressional race.

Those who voted for Reyes’ ouster were Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes and Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yusoph, Grace Padaca, and Luie Guia. Opposing the ruling were Commissioners Christian Lim and Al Parreno.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/07/12/964377/comelec-voids-proclamation-marinduque-lawmaker

SC stops transfer of Marinduque lawmaker’s case to HRET

By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 29, 2013 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has effectively stopped the transfer of the case against elected Marinduque Rep. Regina Reyes to the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), releasing its decision upholding her disqualification in the May 13 polls three days before she assumes her post.

In a 16-page resolution released last Thursday, the SC delineated the jurisdiction of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and HRET on poll cases involving members of the House of Representatives.

Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II was earlier quoted as saying that Reyes’ case has reached the HRET after she was proclaimed winner in the congressional race. 

But the SC held that the HRET, the body tasked to resolve electoral cases involving members of the House, has no jurisdiction on Reyes who has not officially started her term yet.

“The HRET does not acquire jurisdiction over the issue of Reyes’ qualifications, as well as over the assailed Comelec resolutions, unless a petition is duly filed with (the) tribunal.  Reyes has not averred that she has filed such action,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Jose Portugal Perez.

“The jurisdiction of the HRET begins only after the candidate is considered a member of the House of Representatives, as stated in Section 17, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution,” the SC said.

Reyes, according to the SC, does not become a member of the House until she completes three stages specified in the law – valid proclamation, proper oath taking, and official assumption of office at noon of June 30 after the polls.

The SC also questioned the oath of office taken by Reyes before Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

The oath of office of an elected congressman, according to the high court, is valid if it is done “before the Speaker of the House of Representatives and in open session.” 

“Although Reyes made an oath before Speaker Belmonte, there is no indication that it was made during plenary or in open session and thus, it remains unclear whether the required oath of office was indeed complied with,” the SC said.

In the same ruling, the SC upheld Comelec’s disqualification of Reyes for failure to renounce her American citizenship as required of candidates with dual citizenships.

Repost from: http://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/06/29/959522/sc-stops-transfer-marinduque-lawmakers-case-hret