Cayetano: Aquino failed to hold corrupt officials accountable

Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday said the Aquino administration was lacking when it comes to holding corrupt officials accountable, especially those from the Arroyo administration. “If we look at the scams that happened during the Arroyo administration — fertilizer scam, ZTE, swine scam, etc — no one is held accountable so far. Worse, we are only focusing on the mastermind," Cayetano said in a statement released on Thursday. The fertilizer fund scam is the alleged diversion of P728-million fertilizer funds, intended for poor farmers, to the 2004 presidential campaign kitty of former President Gloria Arroyo. The NBN-ZTE deal is the alleged anomalous awarding of a US $329-million construction contract to Chinese telecommunications company ZTE for the proposed government-managed National Broadband Network (NBN). The swine scam is the alleged multi-billion scam in the government's swine program involving the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor). The money also reportedly ended up in Arroyo's campaign kitty. Aside from these issues, Cayetano specifically pointed out the Aquino administration's failure to resolve the Hello Garci scandal, which involves an alleged plot to rig the 2004 elections in favor of Arroyo. Appropriate court and agencies However, Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said appropriate court and agencies are dealing with the corrupt officials. “As far as we know, the NBN-ZTE and fertilizer scam cases are now in court. The other cases are under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Ombudsman," she said in a text message to GMA News Online. “We can only hope that the new Ombudsman to be appointed will act with dispatch in the prosecution of these cases," she added. Sins of the past In the statement, Cayetano asked, “How important is it to Malacanang to go after the evils or the sins of the past administration? If the Garci boys are still present and even promoted here in Comelec, who’s to say that the Fertilizer boys and the Swine Scam boys are not roaming at large at the Department of Agriculture (DA) or in the other agencies? Or the ZTE boys still lurking at NEDA and DOTC?" The senator said there was a need to go after the “small fish" who were tasked to do the paperwork necessary to commit these crimes. “Holding people accountable is an effective deterrent against future abuses to power. It is the only way we learn. When a person is removed from office, charged and incarcerated, we send a message that crime does not pay. If not, they will just resort to better timing or hiding," he said.- with Amita Legaspi, GMA News