Consulate: Bolante on his way back to RP

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Consulate in Chicago on Monday confirmed that former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc" Bolante is on his way back to the Philippines. A QTV Balitanghali report said that Bolante, who is expected to arrive at the country Tuesday, already left the Kenosha Country Detention Center where he has been detained for the last two years. The report, however, said that Bolante’s flight details remain unknown. Bolante is tagged as the “main architect" fertilizer fund scam where at least P728 million allocated for poor farmers poor farmers were diverted to the 2004 presidential campaign kitty of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He flew to the US in 2006 to allegedly escape a Senate inquiry on the multimillion peso mess. Last August, the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals junked Bolante’s petition for asylum and ruled that there was no reason to delay his deportation. The court said Bolante failed to prove he was being persecuted in the Philippines . His visa had been canceled. The television report quoted immigration lawyer Neri Carmen Madrid-Frost said that Bolante may file another petition for asylum, before the US Supreme Court this time. But the lawyer said that the Bolante’s plea may be junked anew. - Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV