Former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante is hiding something and apparently lying under oath, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Thursday after emerging from the Senate's hearing on the P728-million fertilizer fund scandal.

"He's covering up... He was lying under oath out of sheer necessity," Santiago told reporters, adding that the Senate can cite Bolante for contempt for deliberately failing to tell the truth.

The senator said her heart was beating fast after questioning Bolante.

"I normally get excited when I'm being told a lie under oath," she said.

Santiago had earlier asked Bolante if anyone from Malacañang or some people in the government called him up while he was in the United States.

Bolante answered no, which flared up the senator. She said it would be impossible for the government to distance itself from Bolante or inquire about the allegedly misused fertilizer fund.

"Naiskandalo na ang buong gobyerno, walang tumawag sa 'yo sa gobyerno? (The government has been scandalized and yet no one from the government called you up?)" the senator said.

Santiago said Bolante's repeated lies under oath merely makes it obvious that he was trying to cover up something.

The senator was certain that Bolante and local government officials benefited from the agricultural fund released by Malacañang in 2004.

He said Bolante should be charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Law, malversation of public funds, violations of the Anti-Plunder Act and the procurement law.

Scandal may reach Malacañang's doors

Santiago, who openly admits she is an administration ally, said Malacañang may be implicated in the controversy if Bolante and other officials of the Department of Agriculture continue to deny their involvement in the allegedly illegal distribution of the fertilizer fund.

She said the Department of Budget Management (DBM), then headed by Emilia Boncodin, may also be held liable for releasing the fund.

The senator also suspects that Mrs. Arroyo's name was used by officials who plundered the fertilizer fund.

Bolante earlier clarified that Mrs. Arroyo had no knowledge or involvement in the fertilizer fund.

He said the fund's approval went through the DBM without Mrs. Arroyo knowledge.

Good lie

For his part, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile told reporters during a break that Bolante may be lying under oath but senators have so far failed to pin him to the scam.

"It's possible that he's not telling the truth. So far, to be fair, they have not pinned him down," Enrile said.

He said the senators and other critics of Bolante cannot use insinuations as evidence in court. "It's all a question of surmises but no concrete evidence to indicate a fact."

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Senate Blue-Ribbon Committee, said Bolante could have successfully hid his guilt in the scam in the initial hearing.

Cayetano, however, said the Senate may be able to prove that Bolante lied under oath in future hearings that may be set next week.

Before Cayetano called for the lunch break, he asked Bolante if he had been telling the senators that the fertilizer fund could have been plundered while was still in the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Bolante told the committee that he was already resigned from the DA when the fertilizer project was implemented. He said stepped down in August 2004.

The former agriculture undersecretary said if ever there was anomaly, the people involved could be officials at the regional and municipal levels.

Cayetano said his committee is planning to invite DA regional directors who handled the distribution and implementation of the fertilizer project to the next hearing.