MANILA, Philippines—Senators are still divided over what action to take regarding Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante and the unresolved P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson Thursday said Senate President Manny Villar should stop “dilly-dallying” and reopen the inquiry into the fund scam to allow the newly deported Bolante to finally testify.

“What does [Villar] really want out of this whole exercise?” Lacson said at a news briefing, adding that the Senate President had been talking about a caucus of senators to discuss the matter but was not calling for one.

At a separate briefing, Sen. Edgardo Angara called on the Supreme Court to act on Bolante’s petition asking that the Senate be stopped from arresting him.

Angara said that by so doing, the high court could determine whether the Senate indeed had jurisdiction over the man alleged to have distributed fertilizer funds intended for farmers to supporters of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the 2004 presidential election.

(Bolante’s lawyer filed the motion hours before the former agriculture undersecretary flew in from the United States on Tuesday night. But there was no action from the high court, it being on recess until Nov. 10. The Senate thus proceeded to arrest Bolante on the strength of a warrant issued by the chamber in 2005.)

‘Preferable venue’

Angara also said it was the Office of the Ombudsman, and not the Senate, that should hear Bolante’s testimony because the chamber had already recommended the latter’s prosecution as early as March 2006.

He said he would inform his fellow senators of his position that the Ombudsman was the “preferable venue” for the inquiry so that they could “ascertain the truth fairly and objectively.”

Angara also pointed out that the question of custody presented by Bolante to the high court “follows the question of jurisdiction.”

“I hope the Supreme Court will rule … so that the uncertainty will disappear and we can go into the substantive issue of accountability and justice,” said Angara, who had refused to allow his agriculture committee to reopen the inquiry into the fertilizer fund scam.

He added that should the blue ribbon committee chaired by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano take on the investigation, it would be “taking a risk, and it may be questioned legally.”

“I think we should not unduly tarnish the reputation of the Senate by taking action that may be ultimately declared invalid or unlawful by the Supreme Court,” Angara told reporters.

He also said that despite the high court being on recess, Chief Justice Reynato Puno could assign a justice to act on Bolante’s petition.

‘Nothing is happening’

Lacson said Villar could “easily” tell Cayetano—whom he described as “a loyal follower of the Senate president”—to come back from abroad and call for a hearing so that Bolante could testify.

“I, or anyone [else], cannot help but ask why nothing is happening despite the lapse of time since Bolante arrived,” Lacson said, adding that he was wondering whether Villar was “waiting for a signal from on high.”

He said that having ordered Bolante’s arrest, Villar should be consistent and follow through by reopening the inquiry.

Lacson disagreed with Angara that the Senate would be taking a risk should it push for an immediate investigation.

“I’d rather take the risk and ask Bolante the questions needed to be asked of him rather than be overtaken by events and be issued a TRO (temporary restraining order) by the Supreme Court,” he said.

Angara insisted, however, that Bolante should testify before the Ombudsman and not the Senate “for the sake of truth and justice.”

He said that while Senate inquiries were “generally fair,” they could be “partisan and political.”

“I’m not saying it will be partisan and political in this case. But this is a unique case because a witness being called has been convicted by the Senate,” Angara said.

He said Bolante was “entitled as a citizen to the protection of the Constitution, the right to counsel and [that the investigation be done] through the rules of evidence.”

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, the vice chair of the agriculture committee, also said the chamber had “enough findings” on the case “to proceed with the prosecution in a proper court of law.”

“Let’s forward it to the Ombudsman and get a genuine arrest warrant … ” he said.

Faith in Ombudsman

“I hope the Senate won’t be turned into a circus,” Zubiri added, and issued the reminder that the chamber still had to tackle the proposed P1.4-trillion budget for 2009.

As though to buttress Angara’s position, Undersecretary Lorelei Fajardo, Ms Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson, vouched for the credibility of the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate Bolante.

“We have faith [in the Ombudsman],” Fajardo said at a briefing. “Even as the Senate will pursue its investigation, we must have faith and respect for institutions like the Ombudsman.”

The Ombudsman has begun its preliminary investigation and is expected to complete its probe in three months. But University of the Philippines law professor Harry Roque said this was “too little, too late.”

According to Fajardo, the Ombudsman is “the proper investigating body” and “the best agency to investigate the case of Bolante.”

“[It] will give punishment if someone is found guilty. All the more the Ombudsman should pursue its investigation so we will have a closure,” she said.

Fajardo also said Malacañang was not involved in the fertilizer fund scam, and would cooperate with the Ombudsman’s investigation.

“The Palace has nothing to do with it. As of now [Bolante] is a private citizen. Let’s allow due process to take its course,” she said.

But when asked if Malacañang would allow agriculture officials to testify at the Senate, she said: “We will cross the bridge when we get there. It’s too early to say. There are conditions to be followed when it comes to officials’ attendance during Senate inquiries.”

Fajardo also said Bolante’s testimony would trigger another crisis, as had happened in the aftermath of charges that government officials pocketed kickbacks from the scuttled $329-million National Broadband Network deal.

“Bolante is an old issue. It’s good that he’s here now, and it’s good that he has expressed willingness to be investigated and be cleared. I don’t think this should escalate into a crisis,” she said.

“Yes, we can,” she said when asked if the administration could survive the case. “I’d like to believe that the people are more intelligent now, and would rather support programs that seek to alleviate their condition.”

Possible excuse

But Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo is concerned that Bolante would use the Ombudsman’s investigation as an excuse not to testify at the Senate.

If the Ombudsman decides to file charges against Bolante, the latter may cite the pending case as a reason to keep his mouth shut, Ocampo warned.

The party-list lawmaker noted that the Ombudsman had asked Bolante to respond to the complaint that he violated the law in orchestrating the distribution of fertilizer funds that purportedly ended up in Ms Arroyo’s 2004 campaign kitty.

“This will give Bolante a way out so that he would not testify at the Senate,” he said at the Serye forum in Quezon City.

Quezon City Rep. Mat Defensor, the chair of the House committee on justice, also said it was possible that a pending case in court would halt a congressional inquiry.

Defensor said that while Congress, as an independent branch, could proceed with its probe, it might also choose to stop it out of courtesy to a co-equal body in the event of a court case.

He said that witnesses, though they may appear at the investigation, could refuse to speak because doing so might be a violation of the sub judice rule prohibiting a public discussion of the merits of a case pending in court.

Planned probe

But even with lawmakers being linked to the fertilizer fund scam, the House of Representatives will initiate its own probe.

Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra, the chair of the House committee on agriculture, said he would file a resolution calling for the probe. He said farmers, fishermen and his constituents had been asking him about the fund scam, to which they were attributing the recent rice crisis.

Mitra said his response in the past had been to say that Bolante was still in the United States. But now that Bolante has been deported, he said, there was no reason not to try to uncover the truth.

“If we don’t act, we will be criticized,” Mitra said on the phone.

In a statement issued later, he said the planned inquiry would be used, not to embarrass the President, but to “empower the farmers.”

But Bayan Muna’s Ocampo is hardly optimistic.

He said that because congressmen were involved, the planned probe could result in “political posturing.” With reports from TJ Burgonio and Leila B. Salaverria