Senator hits colleagues for refusing to reopen fertilizer fund scam

MANILA, Philippines - Opposition Senator Francis Escudero on Friday scored administration Senators Edgardo Angara and Juan Miguel Zubiri for opposing the re-opening of the Senate probe on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam. Radio dzBB's Nimfa Ravelo said Escudero expressed dismay about the senators' apprehension in re-opening the investigation when they came down hard upon the police officials embroiled in the P6.9-million Moscow cash scandal. "Nangingitngit, nakipag-away, at binulyawan nila yung 'Euro generals,' 7 milyon lang naman. Itong kay Joc-joc, P728 milyon," Escudero said. The alleged main architect of the fertilizer fund scam, former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante, returned to the country Tuesday but is currently staying at the St. Luke's Medical Center where he was brought for medical tests. Bolante's attending physician, Romeo Saavedra, said Thursday that while Bolante is in stable condition, he suffers from "atheromatous aorta and coronary arteries," or the hardening of blood vessels and the heart. Escudero urged Senate doctors, who are set to visit Bolante next week, to determine whether Bolante is just faking poor health to evade the Senate's investigation into the scandal. Escudero said he would probably come down easy on Bolante had the former Agriculture official done a "Robin Hood" by acquiring the money and giving it to the poor. Bolante, however, is alleged to have diverted the fertilizer funds to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's presidential campaign fund in 2004. - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV