Ex-DA chief back in RP, urged to bare all in fertilizer scam

A former government official who may have vital information on the multi-million fertilizer fund scam involving the Arroyo administration has returned to the country after fleeing to the United States four years ago. Luis “Cito" Lorenzo Jr., a former Agriculture secretary, has been urged to come forward and help the Aquino government in investigating the alleged diversion of some P728 million fertilizer fund for poor farmers to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s campaign kitty in 2004. “Mayroon siyang moral na obligasyon bilang dating kalihim, na isiwalat kung anong nalalaman niya (He has a moral obligation as a former government official to help in the investigation by revealing what he knows about the scam)," said lawyer Harry Roque of CenterLaw Philippines in an interview aired over GMA Network’s “24 Oras" Tuesday.

Lorenzo was the superior of former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc" Bolante, allegedly the architect behind the scam. Like Lorenzo, he fled the country in 2006 to escape a Senate investigation on the issue. He returned after two years. President Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III has formed an independent body to probe the unresolved controversies under the Arroyo administration, including the fertilizer fund scam. It will be headed by retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. Roque, in the television report, said Lorenzo had already talked with Aquino. “Ang problema, noong nag-iimbestiga ang Senado, siya rin ay tumakas sa Amerika. Mayroon tayong kasabihan na ‘yung mga tumatakas ay may tinatago (The problem was during the Senate investigation, Lorenzo fled the country. Escape could mean guilt)," he said. The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food and the Blue Ribbon Committee investigated the fertilizer fund scam for two years with a conclusion that Arroyo, now a Pampanga congresswoman, conspired with Bolante to divert the money to her campaign. The Office of the Ombudsman, the body that investigates wrongdoings by government officials, has yet to act on the Senate recommendation. - KBK, GMANews.TV