Palace passes buck on P728M scam probe - Malaya 07.20.2006
BY DENNIS GADIL
THE Presidential Anti-Graft Commission’s (PAGC) yesterday said the failure of three other government agencies to present pertinent documents on the P728 million fertilizer fund scam delayed its investigation into the anomaly.
"Delayed submission of subpoenaed documents prevented PAGC from meeting the 90-day timeframe, hence, to date our investigative processes are still ongoing," PAGC chair Constancia de Guzman said in a letter to Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. dated July 17, 2006.
The three agencies are the Commission on Audit, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Budget.
De Guzman said the PAGC gave itself a three-month deadline "based on the premise that all pertinent documents needed are readily available."
The deadline lapsed on May 31.
Magsaysay demanded an update on PAGC’s investigation when news on Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante’s arrest in the United States broke out.
Bolante was arrested on July 7 in Los Angeles reportedly on visa-related matters.
A final report released by the Senate committee on agriculture and food headed by Magsaysay tagged Bolante as the "architect" in the illegal diversion of the funds to the 2004 campaign kitty of President Arroyo to buy support of local officials.
De Guzman said some of the crucial documents are in the hands of COA, which conducted an audit of disbursements to local government units.
"Considering that the Local Government Audit Reports are not yet in PAGC’s possession, no conclusion can be given at the moment," she said.
De Guzman said COA submitted documents on LGU disbursements but they were "incomplete."
Based on the PAGC "matrix" on its "success rate" in summoning pertinent documents, COA was only able to submit the LGU reports for Regions 5, 6, 11, 13 and Cordillera Administrative Region.
The PAGC matrix showed "partial compliance" for Regions 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 while there was "no compliance" for Regions 1, 2, and Region 3.
The matrix also showed that PAGC started to receive the pertinent COA documents only on July 5.
PAGC said it received documents on May 5 from the DA, which outlined the supposed guidelines for the release of the fertilizer funds under the GMA Rice and Corn program but discarded it as "not applicable for the year (being) investigated (2004)."
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. was the most senior of the 33 officials summoned or interviewed by the anti-graft commission.
The agency did not interview DA Secretary Domingo Panganiban and COA chief Guillermo Carague.
THE Presidential Anti-Graft Commission’s (PAGC) yesterday said the failure of three other government agencies to present pertinent documents on the P728 million fertilizer fund scam delayed its investigation into the anomaly.
"Delayed submission of subpoenaed documents prevented PAGC from meeting the 90-day timeframe, hence, to date our investigative processes are still ongoing," PAGC chair Constancia de Guzman said in a letter to Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. dated July 17, 2006.
The three agencies are the Commission on Audit, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Budget.
De Guzman said the PAGC gave itself a three-month deadline "based on the premise that all pertinent documents needed are readily available."
The deadline lapsed on May 31.
Magsaysay demanded an update on PAGC’s investigation when news on Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante’s arrest in the United States broke out.
Bolante was arrested on July 7 in Los Angeles reportedly on visa-related matters.
A final report released by the Senate committee on agriculture and food headed by Magsaysay tagged Bolante as the "architect" in the illegal diversion of the funds to the 2004 campaign kitty of President Arroyo to buy support of local officials.
De Guzman said some of the crucial documents are in the hands of COA, which conducted an audit of disbursements to local government units.
"Considering that the Local Government Audit Reports are not yet in PAGC’s possession, no conclusion can be given at the moment," she said.
De Guzman said COA submitted documents on LGU disbursements but they were "incomplete."
Based on the PAGC "matrix" on its "success rate" in summoning pertinent documents, COA was only able to submit the LGU reports for Regions 5, 6, 11, 13 and Cordillera Administrative Region.
The PAGC matrix showed "partial compliance" for Regions 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 while there was "no compliance" for Regions 1, 2, and Region 3.
The matrix also showed that PAGC started to receive the pertinent COA documents only on July 5.
PAGC said it received documents on May 5 from the DA, which outlined the supposed guidelines for the release of the fertilizer funds under the GMA Rice and Corn program but discarded it as "not applicable for the year (being) investigated (2004)."
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. was the most senior of the 33 officials summoned or interviewed by the anti-graft commission.
The agency did not interview DA Secretary Domingo Panganiban and COA chief Guillermo Carague.
posted by brodkaster43 at Huwebes, Hulyo 20, 2006
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