Habeas corpus bid for ‘Joc Joc’ filed

Forum shopping slammed

BY EVANGELINE DE VERA

THE son of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc Joc" Bolante yesterday filed a petition for habeas corpus before the Court of Appeals to compel the Senate to release his father from its custody.

In a 15-page petition, Owen Bolante, through lawyer Noel Malaya, claimed the arrest order by the 13th Congress dated Dec. 12, 2005 can no longer bAe enforced as the body was dissolved after the 2007 senatorial elections.

Lawyer Harry Roque, co-convener of the Concerned Citizens Movement, said the petition only proves that Bolante is engaging in "unabashed" forum-shopping.

"His continued evasion of arrest, skillfully planned by feigning illness, is an integral part of his malicious machination, with the objective of staying away from any investigation for as long as it takes," Roque said.

Sen. Mar Roxas dared Bolante to stop forum shopping and face the Senate instead of hiding behind legal technicalities.

"America’s competent court system did not let Bolante get away. We want Bolante to appear before the Senate so he would not be able to evade the truth anymore," Roxas said.

Roque said Bolante still has to explain to the public why journalist Marlene Esparat, the original whistleblower in the fertilizer scam which Bolante allegedly masterminded, was murdered in front of her children in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat on March 24, 2005.

"What does he know of this most vicious crime? This is a key aspect of the fertilizer scam whose sordid details have yet to be fully exposed to public scrutiny."

Roque also said Bolante’s lengthy stay at St. Luke’s is an abuse of the Senate’s humanitarian gesture.

"Mr. Bolante is taking the public for the gullible and the naïve lot that they are not."

"His prolonged stay in the hospital is nothing but a contumacious display of pretended illness and obstructs the cause of justice he has evaded for so long," Roque said.

"We expect the Senate leadership to know better than playing Mr. Bolante’s own game. We expect the Senators of the realm to cut Mr. Bolante’s crap and forthwith subject him to a legislative scrutiny they owe to the public."

The petition argued the 13th Senate which conducted the inquiry "in aid of legislation" turned over its findings and evidence to the Office of the Ombudsman for the filing of proper charges.

"We must also stress that the Senate does not have absolute, unqualified authority to punish for contempt and order the arrest of individuals as these powers may be exercised only in furtherance of the Senate’s authority to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation," he said.

Named as respondent was Senate sergeant-at-arms Jose Balajadia.

Bolante failed to secure a restraining order for the serving of the arrest warrant from the Supreme Court hours to his arrival last Oct. 28 as magistrates were in recess and will not be back until Nov. 10.

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee said the new probe on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam would start grinding next week when Congress resumes session.

"Personally, I want it in the latter part of next week to complete all legal requirements, give more time to doctors and finish consultation with senators," Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, committee chair, said in a media briefing.

Cayetano said after consulting with the legal team of the Blue Ribbon committee, senators have concluded that there was no legal impediment to the new probe.

He said his panel would summon Bolante.

Cayetano said he expects Senate physicians to determine Bolante’s real condition by the middle of the week.

Bolante has been confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center since his return last Oct. 28 after he complained of chest pains.

Cayetano said Senate President Manny Villar Jr. thinks that the Senate has given "reasonable time" for the St. Luke’s doctors to conduct tests on Bolante.

Minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said if Bolante cannot yet testify for health reasons, the committee could summon his physicians to shed light on his condition.

Sen. Edgardo Angara said there is no need to rush the reopening the probe on the fund scam.

"This is not about deadlines. This is all about administration of justice. But in the end Bolante must be held accountable for the fertilizer scam," he said.

Angara, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture, said the Supreme Court should first decide if the arrest order was valid.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, agreeing with Bolante’s son, said the warrant of arrest can no longer be enforced as "it is legally defunct."

Arroyo was chair of the Blue Ribbon panel which along with the agriculture panel of Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. recommended criminal prosecution against Bolante "in absentia" in 2005.

"Sen. Magsaysay commendably decided to terminate the fertilizer scam hearing with or without Bolante. We cannot wait for him forever," he said. "At his request, I supervised, as secondary chairman, the crafting of the committee report consistent with the guidelines Jun proposed," Arroyo said. – With Dennis Gadil and JP Lopez