Press Release
December 17, 2008

Senate blue ribbon panel orders arrest of Aytona

The Senate blue ribbon committee today ordered the immediate arrest of Maritess Aytona after she failed again to appear at the panel's investigation on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon, committee chair, said Aytona, an alleged runner of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante, would be arrested and detained at the Pasay City jail.

"The lawyer of Ms. Aytona was here earlier and he said that he has already spoken with Ms. Aytona and that she promised to come last night but right now apparently she's still having second thoughts coming here," he said at the start of the hearing.

"The committee will act on the continuous absence of Ms. Aytona and once the warrant of arrest is issued to her, I do not intend to bring her to the Senate. We will arrest her and put her into the Pasay jail," he added, noting that she had not given a formal excuse for her absence.

Gordon explained that the continuous absence of Aytona despite her confirmation to attend the panel's hearings is a ground for contempt and an affirmation of flight, which in the fundamental principle of law, is equated with guilt.

Meanwhile, Gordon said they have not yet heard a word from Jimmy Paule, an alleged financier in the Department of Agriculture's fertilizer fund project.

With several Jimmy Paules in the records of the National Bureau of Investigation, the agency is yet to identify and locate the Jimmy Paule involved in the scam.

News Latest News Feed