Seven years after fertilizer funds had been diverted allegedly for political purposes and six years after the P728-million anomaly was uncovered, the Office of the Ombudsman in Manila has finally ordered the filing of the plunder case against agriculture officials tagged as key players in the scam. The filing of the case came on the heel of an impeachment case filed against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in the two-chamber Philippine Congress. The case has found grounds to elevate the case to the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, for final action. Apparently the other officials have felt the heat on their seats following the impeachment case against Gutierrez, who said on the so-called fertilizer scam during the time of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The charges stem from the alleged diversion of the fertilizer funds to Arroyo's presidential campaign in March 2004. Four former congressmen were tagged among the politicians identified as recipients of the funds even if there were no farms or agricultural workers in the districts that they represented. The fund diversions were unearthed a year later, compounding allegations of vote-rigging in the presidential race in favor of Arroyo with the alleged conspiracy of former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. The wait had taken so long that principal suspect Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante, agriculture undersecretary during the Arroyo administration, managed to flee from a congressional investigation, disappear for years and then return. Bolante's boss, former agriculture secretary Luis “Cito” Lorenzo, also skipped town reportedly after divesting himself of his holdings in his family's businesses. For several years Lorenzo was occasionally spotted in Washington before he also surfaced a few months ago in Manila. Also facing a plunder case is former agriculture assistant secretary Ibarra Poliquit. Charges of graft and technical malversation were also ordered filed against four former congressmen, nine regional agriculture directors and six private individuals. It's not clear if Lorenzo surfaced because he thought the fertilizer scam was dead and buried. Filipinos can take comfort in the thought that it's better late than never, and that the fertilizer scam has finally been dug up from its burial ground. The timing of the order to file the cases inevitably raised suspicion that the newfound zeal of anti-graft prosecutors had everything to do with the looming trial of Gutierrez, who was impeached by the House for sitting on major corruption cases involving officials of the Arroyo administration. Gutierrez inhibited herself from the resolution on the fertilizer scam, with her spokesman explaining that the case was part of the articles of impeachment against her. Perhaps the nation will soon see other cases that have gathered dust in her office being resurrected. These include the alleged involvement of Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo in what was then suggested as an scandalous sweetheart contract given to a Chinese firm to build a government telecommunications project in which two former key government officials were brought to court by the Office of the Ombudsman. __
