MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 9) Former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante was arrested anew by Senate security personnel after he was cited in contempt for allegedly lying in the past three hearings on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said Bolante would be held by the upper chamber “until he tells the truth.”

The Senate blue ribbon committee cited eight instances when Bolante supposedly lied under oath as ground for a new arrest warrant.

Bolante, who has been under the Senate’s protective custody since his arrival on Oct. 28 from two years of US detention when he attempted to evade summons issued by the chamber, was seized in the Makati City office of his lawyers around 8 p.m.

Instead of being taken straight to his detention quarters at the Senate, however, Bolante was allowed to return first to his residence at the posh Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City. His legal counsel, Alexis Abastillas Suarez, told reporters that Bolante wished to see his wife, who had suffered a mild stroke.

The 57-year-old Bolante had been staying at his Alabang residence after a hospital confinement for medical tests for 15 days following his return to Manila.

He will be detained in the Senate premises until the resumption of the Senate hearing on Monday.

"I am now on double arrest," Bolante said in a statement minutes before he was led out of the office of Zulueta, Puno & Associates.

"With the order of arrest, I have been condemned and convicted by the Blue Ribbon Committee until they hear what they want to hear," he said in the statement read by Suarez on his behalf.

“It is of public notice that I have answered all the questions propounded to me in the past hearings of the Senate,” the statement said.

“I have answered under oath, without reservation, and have told the truth as evidenced by documents and testimonies heard at those hearings,” it said. “The answers considered evasive should be evaluated as indeed being false or evasive.”

"I'd like to inform the Filipino people that I have no present recourse but to submit my person again, for the second instance, to the authority of Sergeant-at-Arms without waving my constitutional right to question the order of arrest at a proper forum,” said Bolante.

New chance to tell truth

Emerging from a caucus of the 17-member blue ribbon committee earlier Wednesday, Gordon said the group decided to issue an arrest order on Bolante “for continuous evasiveness and continuous contradictions and lies.”

The committee cited eight instances when Bolante lied when questioned about his involvement in the alleged diversion of the fertilizer fund to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s election campaign in 2004.

Gordon, the committee chair, said Bolante would be given the chance to “purge” himself of the contempt order “or to tell the truth” in the next hearing. He assured Bolante that he is being “detained not to be humiliated” but just to ensure the truth will come out.

He said the Senate would “watch his demeanor or his answers and then we can call another meeting after that, if he decides to go in the straight and narrow (path).”

List of contradictions

Gordon said that his committee had prepared a list of statements and contradictions that Bolante had made in the course of the three hearings. Among them were:

• Bolante’s claim that the distribution of the fertilizer money was a regular program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

This was contradicted by DA regional directors Roger Chio and Leo Caneda at the Nov. 28 hearing where they said such activity was “not done in years previous and was not done anymore after that year.”

At the Nov. 28 hearing, Assistant Agriculture Secretary Dennis Araullo said he was not familiar with the farm implements/farm inputs (FIFI) program, much less the P728-million program.

In addition, the regional directors did not ask for the project and that they were not part of any planning or projection at anytime.

Bolante was found to have given authority to local government officials to enter into memorandum of agreements as shown by documents presented by the regional directors.

• Bolante’s claim that his role was only to “download” the fertilizer fund, leaving the regional field units to implement the program themselves.

At the Nov. 25 hearing, the regional directors said they were only authorized to sign up to a maximum of P1 million. Chio presented a purchase order worth P3 million signed by Bolante.

Bolante also signed a letter informing a congressman of the approval of the request. Regional director Ricardo Oblena testified as well that Bolante called him up and instructed him to change the beneficiary.

In addition, regional directors were instructed to forward to Manila requests in excess of P1 million.

• Bolante’s claim that he was invited to be a trustee of the Government Service and Insurance System by the GSIS president.

According to Sec. 42 of Rep. Act 8291, the governing and policy-making body of the GSIS is the board of trustees, the members of which are appointed by the President of the Philippines.

• Bolante’s claim that the funds were fully liquidated.

The Commission on Audit told senators at the Nov. 25 hearing that the fund disbursements were traced but the use and manner of procurement were still improper.

• Bolante’s claim that he only has four bank accounts. Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said Bolante has several accounts, even more than 70.

• Bolante’s claim that his passport was lost. The Department of Foreign Affairs said Bolante’s name did not appear in its Lost and Stolen Passport database.

Patience stretched

The arrest order was approved by at least 11 of the 17 members of the committee: Gordon, Estrada, Senators Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, Rodolfo Biazon, Francis "Chiz" Escudero, Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., Pia Cayetano, and Loren Legarda.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile later signed the arrest order.

“The patience of the Senate has been stretched enough,” Legarda said in a statement.

“It is incumbent upon us legislators to use our constitutionally mandated authority to enjoin subjects such as Mr. Bolante in resolving the pertinent issues with the end in view of crafting remedial legislation.”

Gordon has also ordered the withdrawal of Bolante’s two-man Senate security detail after learning the former official has his own bodyguards.

It was Lacson who had moved that Bolante be detained in the Senate premises.

Esperat case

In a briefing, Gordon said his committee also agreed to investigate the case of slain journalist Marilyn Esperat who was killed after filing a case against Bolante over the alleged overpriced P232-million fertilizer subsidy in Mindanao in 2003.

A resident Ombudsman in Central Mindanao, Esperat claimed that the fertilizer distributed under the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani program in 2003 was overpriced, the bidding was rigged and procurement was awarded to disqualified bidders.

Esperat was gunned down in front of her children at her home in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, by an assassin on March 24, 2005.

Restricted

Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia said Bolante’s movement would “now be restricted.”

“He cannot get out of the Senate,” he said.

But Gordon gave assurances that Bolante’s family could visit him in his Senate detention. With reports from Maila Ager and Anna Valmero, INQUIRER.net