Press Release
January 8, 2009

Gordon slams Bolante's cavalier attitude towards corruption in DA

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon has slammed the cavalier attitude of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante, alleged architect of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, towards corruption in the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said Bolante had been negligent in carrying out his duty as a government official when he did not take concrete action to stop the illegal operation in the DA, which had been bared to him in a meeting with the operators.

"Here was a group of financiers with their lawyer complaining to Mr. Bolante that they were ripped off the money they invested, and what did he do? He wrote a confidential report to Secretary Luis Lorenzo because of the complaint's 'sensitive nature,'" he said.

"Mr. Bolante omitted to do the right thing in not instigating an investigation on the complaint. He had been very negligent as a DA official, a high-ranking one, at that. He had a very cavalier attitude to this corruption that was bared to him," he added.

According to Agriculture Undersecretary Belinda Gonzales, who was then Bolante's assistant secretary, the illegal operation was made known to Bolante when he met with Jaime Paule, alleged financier in the fertilizer fund scam, and at least nine others.

In one of the hearings conducted by the Senate panel on the fertilizer fund scam, Gonzales also disclosed that Paule and the others complained that they were fleeced of their investment by a group purportedly close to Lorenzo.

Gordon stressed that if Bolante had not been remiss in carrying out his duty, the well-trenched syndicate in the DA would have been exposed and its operation stopped.

"If Bolante had this complaint investigated, then the operation of the syndicate in the department would be revealed and stopped. Then Paule would not have been able to repeat his illegal act through the fertilizer fund scam," he said.

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