Press Release
December 11, 2008

Court to decide on Bolante's guilt - Gordon

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today said he is leaving it up to the proper courts to determine the guilt of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante, the alleged architect of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said he will wait for the formal charges for disobedience to the Senate's summons and false testimony the majority senators have filed against Mr. Bolante to take its due legal course.

"It is not up to us to decide whether he is lying. We can always say that he is lying but it will not put him in jail. We are not accusing anyone here and put him in jail afterwards," he said.

"We can only detain a witness if he does not respect the Senate's function to investigate and that is why he was arrested," he added, mindful that it is the first time that the Senate panel has initiated the filing of charges against its witness.

Bolante has been formally charged for violations of Articles 150 (disobedience to summons) and 183 (false testimony) of the Revised Penal Code.

The senator pointed out that the Senate is not an inquisitorial body, which was why the Senate decided to file charges so Mr. Bolante's guilt will be decided by the proper courts.

"We are not an inquisitorial body. We believe he is lying but we cannot say that he is guilty of lying. But we cannot decide if he is lying. We are not the courts. So now, we filed the case and gave them jurisdiction," he said.

"The courts have the jurisdiction to decide on his guilt. DOJ prosecutors will now file charges against Bolante in court. Once it is filed, hearings will be conducted, we will present evidence and then the court will decide if he will be meted with penalties," he added.

Gordon, a lawyer by profession, further added that the blue ribbon panel has already put the message across that the Senate proceedings could not be treated with disrespect.

Bolante was released from Senate detention Wednesday night as a consequence of the filing of charges against him.

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