Former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante has been cleared of plunder in connection with the P723-million fertilizer fund scam.
The Sandiganbayan special second division dismissed the case against Bolante because prosecutors failed to produce evidence of his commission of plunder.
Bolante was charged of getting more than P265 million in kickbacks from funds released under the Farm Input Farm Implement Program in 2004 meant for the purchase of fertilizers but were allegedly diverted to the campaign kitty of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2004.
“Just like the previous finding of this Court in the original Information that there is no probable cause to hold the accused liable for the crime of plunder, we reiterate that even the Amended Information and the judicial affidavit of Barredo did not suffice to find the existence of probable cause against any of the accused for the crime of plunder,” the ruling in the 24-page decision read, promulgated on November 28, according to GMA News.
The court referred to the 20-page sworn testimony of Jose Barredo Jr., the alleged runner of kickbacks in deals struck with local government officials.
Barredo was initially among Bolante’s co-accused in the case.
But when the anti-graft court told the Office of the Ombudsman in August 2014 to submit additional evidence after prosecutors failed to show probable cause to indict Bolante, the Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor amended the case in December that year to turn him into a state witness.
Nonetheless, the court found the personalities Barredo mentioned as recipients of kickbacks were “either local officials who had fund allotments from the DA or DA regional directors, and none of them are even charged in this case as co-conspirators of Bolante or of the other accused.”
While Bolante was pinned as the “central key player” in the scam, the court found no proof of his alleged accumulation of wealth from the fertilizer funds, ABS-CBN News reported.
After Sen. Panfilo Lacson accused Arroyo of using the funds for vote-buying in 2004, the Senate and Office of the Ombudsman launched probes until a plunder case was filed in 2011.
Also named conspirators were former agriculture secretary Luis Ramon “Chito” Lorenzo, former assistant agriculture secretary Ibatra Poliquit and private individuals Jaime Paule, Marilyn Araos, Joselito Flordeliza, Marites Aytona and Leonicia Marco-Llarena.
The Ombudsman alleged that Bolante conspired with Lorenzo and Poliquit in siphoning public funds after purchasing overpriced liquid fertilizers through Paule, Araos, Flordeliza, Aytona and Llanera.
The DA allegedly allocated P1,500 for every liter of fertilizer, when the supplier was only paid P150, according to ABS-CBN News.
The post Joc-Joc Bolante Cleared of Plunder in Fertilizer Fund Scam Case appeared first on Manila Bulletin.
Share It To Your Friends!
Loading...