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COA affirms fertilizer fund mess findings in House probe


MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit (COA) on Wednesday reaffirmed its findings on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam that became the basis of the Senate’s probe on the controversy in 2006. At the hearing of the House of Representatives agriculture committee Wednesday morning, COA director Flerida Jimenez reported to the House hearing the irregularities embedded on the Agriculture Department’s (DA) distribution of the fertilizer funds. Jimenez said that based on the COA's findings, the list of lawmakers and local government officials who actually received money or fertilizers from the P728-million fertilizer fund is different from the annex attached to the Department of Budget and Management's Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) distributing the funds among the proponents. "The annexes attached to the SARO was not the one used in the distribution," said Jimenez. Under the DBM's records, P265 million were supposed to be alloted to provincial governments, P407 million for congressional districts, and P56 million for municipalities. Jimenez said that based on the COA's findings, P250 million went to provincial governments, P404 million to congressional districts, and P65 million to municipalities. Jimenez likewise reiterated the adverse findings of the COA, which showed that 59 percent of the funds have not been liquidated, that out of the 13 NGOs that were given P162.1 million, only five had legitimate offices, and that there was "no system at all in the distribution of fertilizers to establish accountability." Also, Jimenez reported that the DA bought the fertilizers from an exclusive distributor when the fertilizers were already sold cheaper in the local market and the fertilizers obtained were P128 million overpriced. Bolante a ‘no-show’ Meanwhile, House agriculture committee chairman Abraham Mitra expressed disapaointment over the non-appearance of former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante during the hearing, saying the panel will be looking forward to his presence at its next hearing on the multibillion-peso fertilizer scam Tuesday next week. Mitra also said the committee will also expect former Budget Sec. Emilia Boncodin to shed light on the matter at the next hearing. "Disappointed kami na hindi dumating si Usec Joc-Joc. Iniminbita namin siya, gusto namin marinig (We were disappointed that Joc-joc did not come. We invited him here, we wanted to hear his side)," Mitra said in an interview on dzBB radio. Bolante, tagged as the brains of the fertilizer fund mess, said he could not show up at the House hearing since he is under Senate custody. He is scheduled to testify at the Senate Thursday morning. Mitra said they plan to issue a second invitation to Bolante for the Nov. 18 hearing. "I'm confident he'll be here again next week. Once he attends the Senate hearing (Thursday) he will be a free man. He should be here Tuesday next week," he said. Likewise, Mitra said he expects Boncodin, who was Budget secretary at the time the fertilizer fund was allegedly re-channeled to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's campaign kitty in 2004, to attend Tuesday's hearing. On the other hand, Mitra said the committee will explore further the role of lawmakers and other local officials in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam after the COA said that corruption most likely occurs in proponents' identification of where fertilizer funds will course through. "Yes (we will study the role of proponents). Not only that, we will study the actual flow (of money), why was it released, the selection of the beneficiaries, the selection of proponents," Mitra said in an interview with reporters. He, however, said there is no basis to have at least two members of Congress who admitted receiving fertilizer funds from Bolante to inhibit themselves from the investigation, at least for now. "Di sila dapat mag-inhibit sa ngayon (They should not inhibit themselves, at least for now). They have not been found to be guilty of doing anything. This is supposed to be a transparent and free hearing," he said. Besides, Mitra said what has been established so far is that what was given out was not cash but allocations to the districts and provinces. "Umamin sila na as governor their provinces received it but not themselves (They admitted that as governor, their provinces received it but not themselves)," he said. As this developed, a separate dzBB radio report quoted Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla as saying that if Bolante fails to show up at the next scheduled hearing, they may issue Bolante a subpoena or an arrest warrant to compel him to attend. Bolante remains under "hospital arrest" at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City and is considered under Senate custody, owing to an arrest order issued by the Senate during the 13th Congress. Senate President Manuel Villar II on Tuesday said Bolante would not be able to attend the investigation of the House of Representatives without the Senate’s permission. Villar said the House has to send a letter requesting Senate for the presence of Bolante on the former's inquiry on the multi-million fertilizer fund scam, but so far the Senate has not yet received any request from the lower house. Villar maintained Senate custody over the former Agriculture official. But Remulla said the House will not ask permission from the Senate as the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the validity of the Senate’s arrest order against Bolante. - Sophia Dedace and Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV
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