By Cherry Pie Eggpie Sandoval, Gerry Albert Corpuz and Billy Javier Reyes
MANILA, Philippines –“How come the mastermind of the P 728-million fertilizer fund scam is not included in the plunder complaint filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court? This is the biggest miscarriage of justice in the new millennium.â€
The left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), one of the complainants in the P 728-million fertilizer fund scam raised this question to acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro who yesterday ordered the filing of plunder charges against former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc†Bolante, former agriculture secretary Luis Lorenzo and assistant secretary Ibarra Poliquit.
“The case should be billed People of the Philippines versus former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her league of plunderers. But in this case, the Office of the Ombudsman exonerates the mastermind to pave way for the eventual grand dismissal of the case before the Sandiganbayan court,†said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a press statement.
“It seems to us the non-inclusion of former President Arroyo in the plunder cases in connection with the P 728-million fertilizer fund scam is part of the de facto compromise agreement between the Aquino gangland and Arroyo syndicate,†he added.
Hicap said acting Ombudsman Casimiro has done a great injustice to millions of farmers, fisherfolk and the Filipino taxpayers for excluding former President Arroyo in the plunder cases to be filed at Sandiganbayan.
“It is public knowledge that Mrs. Arroyo is the principal orchestrator of the P 728-million fertilizer fund scam. It is supported by earth shaking evidences and undeniable facts and figures. The acting Ombudsman merely acted in behalf of Arroyo in this case,†the Pamalakaya leader added.
Hicap said his group, together with other complainants--- the peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the Amihan national federation of peasant women filed a motion for reconsideration last month before the Ombudsman office to consider the inclusion of GMA in the plunder suit to be filed before the anti-graft court.
“This is unfair, very unfair to millions of farmers and rural people whose collective names and souls were used by the Arroyo group of plunders in the national raid of public funds for political purposes during the May 2004 national elections,†the Pamalakaya official added.
Casimiro yesterday also ordered the filing of plunder charges against private fertilizer suppliers Jaime Eonzon Paule, Marilyn Araos, Joselito Flordeliza, Marites Aytona, Jose Barredo and Leonicia Marco-Llarena.
The acting Ombudsman chief also denied the motions for reconsiderations filed by former Quezon City Rep. Nanette Castelo-Daza, former Marinduque Gov. Carmencita Reyes and former Catanduanes Gov. Leandro Verceles.
The plunder case against Arroyo is the first case by Pamalakaya and other groups before the Office of the Ombudsman. On January 6, 2010, the fisherfolk group filed another plunder case against Arroyo and former agriculture secretary now Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap in connection with the P 455-million ice-making machines purchased by the agriculture department at P 4.6 million per unit, which is P 2.3 million higher or 100 percent overpriced.
Pamalakaya said the government bought 98 units of ice-making machines, but the whereabouts of these overpriced ice-making freezers have yet to be disclosed by Secretary Proceso Alcala, prompting the group to call the P 455-million ice-making project a case of ghost delivery.
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