Senate witness

Ramos, as the principal witness of the Senate inquiry on the fertilizer scam, has also been a primary target of political persecution. In an interview, he said police and military elements have been hounding him since March.

“Pinatay na nila si Nanay Perla. Ngayon, ako naman ang gusto nilang patahimikin” (They’ve killed Nanay Perla, now they also want me silenced), the KMP leader said.

Ramos said he has not returned home since Feb. 26, a day after Macapagal-Arroyo declared Presidential Proclamation 1017 placing the nation in a state of emergency.

Even while away from home, family and neighbors said several unidentified men have been looking for him in their village in Malolos, the city capital of the province of Bulacan (44 kms north of Manila).

One of the men who have been hunting him down is a policeman whom former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Arturo Lomibao acknowledged as an agent of the Central Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Ramos said KMP, which has the biggest number of farmer-members with 65 provincial chapters in 15 regions nationwide, has demanded for Bolante’s immediate repatriation to the Philippines. “Dapat syang humarap sa imbestigasyon at panagutin sa kanyang pagmamaniobra ng pondo para sa mga magsasaka” he said. (He should face the investigation and account for the fund scam.)

Bolante is charged as the “architect” and “brains” behind the scam in Senate Resolution No. 327, filed by the Committee on Agriculture and Food and the Blue Ribbon Committee on March 1, 2006.

The Senate report read: “It was he (Bolante) who worked with the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) for the immediate release of the fund. It was him who prepared and submitted names who would become the fertilizer fund’s proponents. It was Undersecretary Bolante who sent letters to various congressmen and local officials informing them of the availability of funds under the DA’s GMA (Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) Project. It was him who directed these officials to coordinate with his office to discuss all the requirements to facilitate the said project fund.”

Ramos told the Senate committee inquiry that the fertilizer funds were most probably used for the presidential campaign of Macapagal-Arroyo as it was released just three months before the elections. The release of the fund may have been “a perfect time” for the elections, he said, but it was definitely “untimely” for the farmers. February is a harvest month and there is no need for fertilizers until November when planting begins.

Ramos arrived last week from Geneva where he, along with Karapatan and a few others, filed human rights complaints against Macapagal-Arroyo and Maj. Gen. (ret.) Jovito Palparan with the United Nations Human Rights Council. Bulatlat

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