By Fel V. Maragay

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee has recommended the filing of plunder and/or money laundering charges against former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante and 10 other individuals for allegedly conspiring to misuse P728-million fertilizer fund in 2004.

Senator Richard Gordon, committee chairman, said the testimonies of witnesses and documentary evidence senators have gathered from eight public hearings reinforced the findings of the committee on agriculture and Blue Ribbon committee in the l3th Congress that funds were illegally diverted to several individuals while the fertilizer that was purchased out of public money was grossly overpriced and in many instances did not reach the intended beneficiaries or rice farmers.

In a 130-page report, the committee said Bolante, who was tagged as the ?architect? of the anomaly, should be charged with plunder, technical malversation, money laundering and false testimony/perjury.

The others recommended for criminal prosecution by the Blue Ribbon were former Assistant Agriculture Secretary Ibarra Poliquit, Agriculture Undersecretary Belinda Gonzales, Jaime Paule, Maritess Aytona, Julie Gregorio, Redentor Antolin, Marilyn Araos and Leonicia Llarena.

The 10th person to be indicted in the case, Joselito Flordeliza, was spared by the committee from the plunder charge. But it said money laundering charge should be filed against Flordeliza, the president of the National Organization for Agricultural Productivity Enhancement which was used by the alleged conspirators as a ?legal cover? for their fraudulent transactions.

The committee said that while it found no evidence directly linking President Arroyo to the irregularities, she could not evade responsibility because the acts of Bolante and his ?cohorts? (Poliquit and Gonzales) ?are deemed acts of the President since they acted within the scope of their authorities given to them by then Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr.?

?Since there was no reprobation or disapproval coming from President Arroyo regarding their actions, it can easily be inferred that the President acquiesced to such acts,? Gordon said.

The committee invoked the ?Doctrine of Qualified Political Agency,? which recognizes that all executive and administrative organizations are adjuncts of the executive department.

It pointed out that as early as the l3th Congress, the Senate held that the President herself ?must be held accountable in the mismanagement of the fertilizer fund and take it upon herself to institute measures to correct the flaws in her administration.?

The committee said the disclosure of the anomaly in the media should have prompted the government agencies concerned to act.

?But the Anti-Money Laundering Council was slow, the Bureau of Internal Revenue was absent, the Department of Budget and Management allowed it, the President and the Department of Agriculture did not move,? it said.

Gordon said the Office of the Ombudsman failed to do its duty when no resolution was made on this case even after more than a thousands days. For this reason, he said he is supporting calls for the resignation of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

?The gross inaction by the Ombudsman is one that must not be allowed or tolerated by the people and by the leaders of this country. Certainly, and at the very least, the Senate will not tolerate the Ombudsman?s criminal negligence,? he said.

The committee recommended that the Constitution should be amended by requiring that the Ombudsman should be elected by the people instead of being appointed by the President. In this way it said the Ombudsman ?will not owe loyalty to any entity except the people.?

The committee did not indict former Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo because he has not testified yet. Gordon noted that Lorenzo has stayed abroad since resigning from his post in 2005.

The Blue Ribbon recommended a number of legislative measures to prevent another misuse of public funds. For instance, it said the period of freeze order for suspicious bank accounts should be extended from six months to two years.

The committee batted for the revision of the AMLC Rules, as written by the congressional oversight committee on the Anti-Money Laundering Law, by reinstating the provision granting Congress the power to obtain information from the AMLC about cases under its investigation.

It also recommended amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act to include in the exception public officers charged before the courts for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Malaca?ang welcomed the recommendation of the Blue Ribbon but rejected the allegation that the President shared the blame for the latest controversy to hit the administration.

Deputy presidential spokesman Lorelei Fajardo refuted the Senate panel?s report that President Arroyo encouraged such acts of corruption.

The Blue Ribbon report did not yield any evidence directly linking Mrs. Arroyo to the scam, Fajardo said. Besides, it is not a final ruling and the guilt of the accused has yet to be established, Fajardo said. With Roy Pelovello