Arroyo was never involved in fertilizer fund mess - Bolante

(Updated) MANILA, Philippines - Former Agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc" Bolante on Thursday cleared President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of any involvement in the multimillion fertilizer fund scam. Appearing before the reopened Senate probe on the anomaly, Bolante said it was the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) which approved the P728-million farm input and farm implement program in 2004. "The project that you are referring to is the P728-million farm input and farm implement program was approved and processed by the DBM. It did not require the approval of President Arroyo. President Arroyo has never been involved and is not involved in this particular project of the Department of Agriculture," Bolante said. Bolante was responding to a query from Senator Manuel Roxas II, who wanted to know when President Arroyo approved the fertilizer fund. Roxas, however, did not accept Bolante's answer, saying President Arroyo is known to be a micro-manager. “That’s hard to believe, Mr. Bolante because we know the President as a micro-manager," he said. Roxas recalled an earlier hearing where former budget secretary Emilia Boncodin, when asked if the President knew about the fertilizer fund, had replied, "I would imagine so." The fertilizer fund scam refers to the P728-million worth of fertilizer fund intended for poor farmers but was allegedly diverted to President Arroyo’s campaign kitty in the 2004 elections. Not a scam According to Bolante, who denied irregularities in the fertilizer fund program, the P728-million fund was part of the unutilized savings from the 2003 budget. He said then Agriculture secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr made an official request to the DBM for the release of the funds for the said program. "As far as I know, the P728-million farm input and implement program funding of the Department of Agriculture was not a scam," Bolante said. He also denied that the funds went to President Arroyo’s campaign kitty in the 2004. In response to Senate Pro-Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada's question on whether the fertilizer fund was intended for the 2004 elections, Bolante categorically answered in the negative, saying the request for the fund was made long before it was released. "No," Bolante said in response to Estrada's question. "First we made a request on September 2003, long before the date of release. Most of the projects did not actually even start before May (2004). Most started May onwards. If you check DA records, (it was used) June and July 2004, long after the elections." Bolante also denied that congressmen and governors, particularly those closely associated with the administration, were the recipient of the funds. “Not a single centavo was released to the congressmen and the governors. No amount was released to them," Bolante told Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr, adding that the funds were “prudently" distributed to the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) regional field units (RFUs). “I can assure you that we were very prudent in the transfer of the fund to the RFUs," he said. Limited funds Bolante also admitted that he was the one who approved the fertilizer fund, but said he had to give it to some “selected" provinces and municipalities because the funding was limited. The former Agriculture official said the criteria the DA used in selecting which funding requests would be approved involved knowing if the funds being requested were to be used in farm inputs and farm implementation programs. "We have to match their pending request with the purpose of the fund. The use of the fund was very specific for farm input and farm implements," Bolante said. He also said that party affiliation was never a criterion in the distribution of the fund. Asked by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile if he considered the party affiliation of the "project proponent" in choosing the beneficiaries of the fertilizer fund, Bolante said it never came into the picture. "I would not be in the position to do that I don't know their political affiliation," he said, adding that names of the congressmen, governors and mayors were indicated in the list "for the purpose of convenience." “Incredulous" Bolante’s testimony, however, failed to appease senators who had been seeking for his side ever since the fertilizer fund scam was exposed. Opposition Sen. Loren Legarda, for one, described the former Agriculture official statements as “incredulous." Legarda said that although there are papers to support how the P728-million fertilizer funds were distributed, it does not necessarily translate that corruption did not ensue. Senator Panfilo Lacson, also from the opposition bloc, accused Bolante of “fooling" the Senate all day. "You've been fooling us the whole day," Lacson told Bolante, adding that Bolante was only answering questions that he wanted to answer and feigning innocence on those he wanted to evade. “You've been very evasive," Lacson further said. Outside of the Senate, members of the political opposition and other critics of the Arroyo administration expressed disappointment over Bolante’s testimony before the Senate. United Opposition (UNO) spokesman Adel Tamano was quoted in a radio report as saying that Bolante's statements at the hearing showed that the former Agriculture official was a mere "joke, joke." Meanwhile, Black and White Movement's secretary general Leah Navarro was also quoted in the same report as saying she "was no longer surprised" when Bolante shielded the Palace from the mess and fended off claims he pocketed money from the fund. Navarro said Bolante seemed like he had prepared a speech prior to the Senate hearing. - Amita Legaspi, Mark Merueñas, Sophia Dedace, Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV