Press Release
November 15, 2008

GORDON FINDS BOLANTE SADLY LACKING IN PRUDENCE

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today said he finds former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante sadly lacking in prudence of a good financial executive in connection with the alleged illegal disbursement of P728-million funds for fertilizers.

Gordon said he was perplexed how an official with Bolante's talents and experience, having been president of Prudential Life prior to his appointment to the Department of Agriculture (DA), could have been imprudent with such a large amount of funds.

"I don't understand why in spite of your talents and qualifications, you appear very imprudent. You seem to have left your prudence with Prudential Life," he told Bolante during the Senate investigation into the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

"As an executive of a huge and respected company I would imagine you have enough experience to know how to handle the fund, exercise the necessary diligence in spending the people's money. But as I see it, you lack the necessary prudence," he added.

Gordon, a member of the Senate blue ribbon committee, scored Bolante for not only for being derelict in his responsibility but for his lack of guts in taking responsibility for his actions.

"You have been letting people take the blame instead of taking responsibility and saying 'I should have checked or I did not check.' I never heard you say 'I should have checked' all throughout. Even if you were not responsible, you were holding on to P728-million worth of funds, you should have known that you had a responsibility to monitor what became of it," he said.

The senator pointed out that the former undersecretary committed a crime by commission by using the amount for the "demand-driven" project, which was exacerbated by his lack of prudence.

"I think that you committed a crime by commission. You distributed the savings on the eve of the 2004 elections and didn't even bother to monitor where it was really used. Even if you say that other people spent the money, it was still your duty as a prudent executive to check how the project is going," he said.

Gordon said that in aid of legislation, they would have to advise future presidents not to appoint people who may have the right qualifications but short on responsibility and accountability.

"I don't see anything in aid of legislation except to advise future presidents not to appoint people who may have qualifications of a president of a major company who is supposed to be smart in finance but nonetheless very short on responsibility and accountability and is very derelict in his functions, allowing other people to take the blame rather than to take responsibility and say I should have checked, I did not check," he said.

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