THIRD TIME
Bolante won’t be home for Christmas
By Christine Avendańo, Miko L. Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:25:00 12/05/2008
Filed Under: Joc-joc Bolante
MANILA, Philippines—“Leave us alone.”
Upon the request of Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante, the Senate security group Thursday told media to stop taking pictures and interviewing the former agriculture undersecretary and his family during his detention.
It was unclear exactly where in the Senate building Bolante was being held after he was cited in contempt and ordered arrested for allegedly lying eight times during the past three hearings of the blue ribbon committee looking into the P728-million fertilizer scam.
Malacańang steered clear of the Senate action.
“Obviously, Bolante and his family will be separated this Christmas. Just the same, he has to face it. We respect the decision of the Senate. They have good reason for doing this,” Undersecretary Lorelei Fajardo said.
Reporters Thursday attempted but were not allowed to see the alleged brains behind the diversion of government money intended for farmers to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s 2004 election campaign.
Sen. Richard Gordon, blue ribbon committee chair, said that Bolante would be confined in the clinic, but Sergeant at Arms Jose Balajadia said the star witness was in the basement, where those who had run afoul of the chamber were usually confined.
4-star detention
“His request was to ‘leave us alone for the meantime’ and that there will be no media,” Balajadia said. “They don’t want to be seen on television and they don’t want to be seen in the newspapers.”
He told reporters that the 57-year-old Bolante was having lunch with his wife Carol, two relatives and an aide.
“He is like in a four-star detention center,” Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said, quoting Balajadia.
Bolante was arrested on Wednesday night by the Senate security team in the office of his lawyers in Makati City.
He was allowed to see his wife, who reportedly suffered a mild stroke upon learning of his predicament, in his swank home in Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City and have dinner there before being taken past midnight to the Senate.
‘Liar, liar, liar!’
A woman driving a blue sedan stopped in front of Bolante’s house, where reporters and security men were gathered outside at around 10 p.m., rolled down the window of her car and yelled, “Liar, liar, liar!”
“We’re not here to humiliate you,” said Gordon, who received Bolante at the Senate. “You’re here to testify properly and tell the truth ... We’re sorry that this had to happen, but it’s part of the law.”
Bolante nodded, keeping silent.
“Not only am I convinced, but also the committee is convinced that he appears to be lying,” Gordon later told reporters.
The arrest order against Bolante stipulated that he will be detained until he purges himself of the contempt charge or until the Ombudsman or the justice department files a case against him for false testimony.
“If he starts telling the truth, if he stops being evasive and decides to answer our questions frankly and in all honesty, then he would save himself from a long detention here at the Senate,” Gordon said.
That chance to tell all could come on Monday, when the committee resumes its hearing.
Joc-joc jokes
“He’s OK. He’s quite bubbly. He jokes,” was how Balajadia described Bolante.
Likewise, Bolante seemed quite comfortable in the Senate basement, the sergeant at arms said.
Having brought his own pillow and blanket, Bolante has not asked for anything from the Senate. Balajadia said that the Senate would provide Bolante a doctor and an ambulance as well as 24-hour air-conditioning.
Bolante returned to Manila on Oct. 28 after a two-year detention in the United States.
US authorities canceled his visa and held him while he unsuccessfully pursued an application for political asylum, saying his life was in danger if he returned home.
Bolante disappeared in 2005 after he was summoned by the Senate, which subsequently issued a warrant for his arrest.
The warrant was served on his return, but Bolante requested that he undergo medical examination and was whisked from the airport to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where he remained for 15 days before he was finally brought to the Senate to testify.
Bolante was permitted to go home under the Senate’s protective custody after his testimony.
But on Wednesday, the blue ribbon committee decided to enforce the arrest warrant after finding him in contempt for “continued evasiveness, continuous contradictions and lies.”
Less than 24 hours under Senate detention, Bolante was apparently taking it all well.
Waste of time
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who was at the Senate Thursday to await the approval of his department’s budget proposal for 2009, said he would not visit Bolante.
“We also have to follow the rules here. Only the family and lawyers can see him,” Yap told reporters.
Yap was asked about the blue ribbon committee’s new bid to look into the case of slain journalist Marilyn Esperat who had filed a case against him and Bolante in 2003 for the alleged overpricing of P400 million worth of fertilizer in Mindanao.
“I don’t want to say it’s a waste of time but it’s been passed upon. The Ombudsman had already investigated it,” he said.
But if called upon by the Senate to testify, Yap said he would show evidence that Esperat’s claims were “baseless, unfounded and malicious.” With a report from TJ Burgonio
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