Pimentel: Bolante 'not seriously ill', should face Senate
By LYNDA JUMILLA, ABS-CBN News | 11/06/2008 5:26 PM
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Now that he has been found to have no serious ailment, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante should be compelled to face the Senate right away on the fertilizer fund scam issue.
This was the statement of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., two days after Senate doctors examined Bolante at the st. Luke's Medical Center.
"Bolante at this point is apparently faking it up, in the same manner he struck a Napoleonic pose when he arrived," Pimentel said.
"The Senate doctors have not found anything wrong with him, that's why he should be compelled to appear before the Blue Ribbon Committee as soon as possible," he said.
Pimentel also warned senators who have threatened to block the reopening of the investigation on the grounds it had been terminated and reported on with finality during the 13th Congress.
"I don't know if they will bring it out, but before they do I suggest they look into the records to avoid embarrassment on the part of anyone," he said.
Those pushing for the investigation have cited the 2006 Senate Agriculture Committee Report which said, "although this is a final report, the fertilizer fund scam can never be really closed without the testimony of... Bolante."
At the same time, Pimentel urged the Blue Ribbon Committee to summon a certain Aida Gerochi, who according to text messages circulating for weeks now, was a "DA operator" whose company Castle Construction was used as a conduit in the scam.
