Ex-DA head to talk on fertilizer scam
By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated July 08, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Former agriculture secretary Luis “Cito” Lorenzo Jr. is back in the country and is ready
to talk about the P728-million fertilizer fund scam allegedly involving former President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo and her agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante.
President Aquino said yesterday there is a possibility that Lorenzo, who, along with Bolante, disappeared at
the height of the controversy, could become a state witness.
“It is an accepted doctrine that the person with the least guilt who can help you in prosecution is afforded
certain privileges, among them immunity from suit,” the President said.
He clarified that there was no extensive discussion between him and Lorenzo when they met at a party
recently, and he had made it clear to Lorenzo that “I have a lot of questions for you.”
“Have we had discussions? No. It hasn’t gotten to that point and, of course, there has to be a determination
of least guilt, which is our prerequisite for granting him the privilege of becoming a state witness,” Mr. Aquino
said.
Lorenzo’s brother, Martin, contributed heavily to the Aquino election campaign, but the President said this
would not mean that the former agriculture chief would be getting kid glove or preferential treatment.
He added that Lorenzo was not being considered as state witness just because of his brother’s campaign
donations.
“I was surprised to see Cito Lorenzo at the birthday party of Boy Montelibano. He greeted me and that was
the first time I’ve seen him since this controversy. At the end of the day, we did promise total closure on the
issue (of) the fertilizer fund scam. If memory serves me right, the releases from the DBM (Department of
Budget and Management) were requested not by Cito Lorenzo, but by Mr. Bolante,” Mr. Aquino told reporters
in his first press briefing at Malacañang.
The President said he wants to know Lorenzo’s involvement because “if he has damaging information on
certain parties, then the revelation of the same will serve as some sort of safeguard for his own safety.”
“I did make an appeal to him when he was in exile, that it would be in his interest to tell what he does know,
and in that sense, protect him... Keeping it in limbo, not putting it on public record, does not help his cause,”
he said.
“And I left it at that. I don’t think it’s the proper time and I’m not sure if I’m the proper authority to ask him all
the relevant questions,” Mr. Aquino said.
“Will I go soft on him? No. We will be asking the relevant questions, given the fact that he was the secretary
at the time, to put a closure to the issue and if there are items that might have escaped our attention. At the
end of the day the only thing we can promise him is a level playing field,” he added.
Mr. Aquino said Lorenzo did not respond to him when he was encouraging him, through the latter’s
emissaries, to come back and testify while the former agriculture secretary was still in exile.
“Perhaps the whole conversation was a total of two or three minutes, including my surprised comment that,
‘so you’re already here in the country?’ I never got a response. So the actual conversation was in the midst of
so many people who were greeting me also. I did mention all of those things and I’m not sure if he
responded except with an unknowing smile. And, again, I don’t think that would have been the proper venue
to start asking all of these questions,” Aquino said.
No strings attached
Montelibano’s party was held at the University of Makati and was attended by Vice President Jejomar Binay,
his children Makati City Rep. Mar-Len Abigail Binay-Campos, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay, Executive
Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Sonny Coloma, former
agrarian reform secretary Popoy Juico, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo’s daughter Mons Tantoco,
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski and husband Dodot Jaworski.
The President arrived at around 9 p.m. and spoke with Lorenzo inside a room but he said it was among
many people.
Witnesses said Lorenzo visibly lost weight, and went table hopping and posed for photographs with those
present.
Ochoa earlier said he was not aware of the meeting but later confirmed it happened last Saturday. He said
there would be no talks of settlement with the Arroyos as regards the fertilizer fund scam.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that despite the P20-million contribution of Lorenzo’s brother,
Mr. Aquino had made it clear that there would be no strings attached to any campaign contribution.
He added that he only learned about Lorenzo’s homecoming through photos taken during the party.
Lorenzo: I will testify
In a separate interview with a television channel, Lorenzo confirmed that he will testify in any government
investigation to ferret out the truth about the fertilizer fund scam.
He also denied that he fled at the height of the investigation, but only wanted to give time to his family.
“Money never passed through me and I was not involved (in the scam). I really wanted to serve, unfortunately
the dynamics did not agree with my interest to serve,” the former agriculture chief said.
Lorenzo admitted that he arrived in the country on Saturday and went to the party later in the day where he
met the President.
He vowed “to perform his duty at the appropriate time” and made it clear that he has nothing to hide.
Leaving no stone unturned
Lacierda said the investigation of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam would fall under the jurisdiction of the
still-to-be-formed Truth Commission to be headed by retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.
“If the fertilizer fund scam is tackled, it will be under the Truth Commission, which is an independent body.
The executive will not interfere,” he said.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, on the other hand, said that Lorenzo would make a good witness based on
the report prepared by the Senate, which investigated the scam.
De Lima said it was not fair to make speculations at this time since the process was just starting.
She said she had not yet spoken with Lorenzo and they would have to determine if the case would indeed be
part of the Truth Commission.
“Whoever would be witnesses to that case, we still don’t know; that we have to find out,” De Lima said.
Davide has Aquino’s confidence
President Aquino made it clear that he will give Davide a free hand in the Truth Commission, and would not
impose any deadline to finish the investigation of anomalies that involved the previous administration.
Mr. Aquino also expressed full confidence in Davide, who was appointed as chairman of the Commission
on Elections during the time of his mother, the late President Cory Aquino.
“I will let him do his job, no pressures,” he said.
The President also defended Davide’s appointment although he fully understood the position of deposed
President Joseph Estrada, particularly because the former chief justice was the presiding officer of the
former actor’s impeachment trial in December 2000.
“He’s the most qualified to head that body. At the end of the day, his work will just be recommendatory. I think
he’s an honorable person and at this stage of his life, I don’t think he would want to be associated with
something that is mediocre,” Mr. Aquino said.
Culling suppressed evidence against GMA
With former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo no longer in power, all the evidence against her and her
alleged cohorts will be scrutinized thoroughly, if only to make sure that there will be no stone unturned.
Lacierda said that part of the task of Davide’s independent commission is to unearth evidence against
former officials that were suppressed in the past that could give closure to scandals like the $329-million
ZTE broadband deal, the P728-million fertilizer scam, among others.
However, the spokesman assured the public that the Truth Commission will not be utilized as a tool for
witch-hunts.
“The President wants to make sure it will not be a witch-hunt. Evidence will be gathered and those
responsible will have to face the law.”
The Aquino government also vowed to expedite the cases, should there be any indictments, making sure it
will not suffer the same fate of the slew of cases of the Marcoses, which took decades and have remained
unresolved.
“There is no such plan. That is precisely the mandate of the Davide Truth Commission,” Lacierda told
reporters, when asked whether cases would again outlive the six-year term of the President, just like the
Marcoses.
Lacierda said the Davide panel will be given the power to investigate, for purposes of providing closure to
several anomalies in the past government, and file the necessary cases, if any, before the Office of the
Ombudsman, which, in turn, may file these with the Sandiganbayan.
Secretary De Lima said the Aquino administration will provide Davide with all the support he needs, like
pulling out a prosecutor from the Department of Justice or a senior National Bureau of Investigation agent.
Lorenzo was the agriculture secretary when about P728 million intended as fertilizer funds for small farmers
was allegedly diverted to Arroyo’s election campaign in 2004.
Arroyo eventually won the election by a slim margin amid widespread allegations of cheating, including vote
buying and influence peddling.
Lorenzo fled the country two years later when the Senate launched an investigation into the scandal. – Delon
Porcalla
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