Press Release
November 28, 2008

Gordon issues subpoena orders on AMLC officials

The Senate blue ribbon committee today ordered the issuance of subpoena on officials of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to produce and present the documents themselves pertinent to the on-going Senate hearing on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, issued the order, along with the issuance of subpoena on Maritess Aytona, the alleged runner of former agriculture secretary Jocelyn Bolante.

"We are going to send them a subpoena duces tecum and ad testificandum. This means they will bring the documents as well as their bodies here," he said.

Aytona was rushed to the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City after she suffered from high blood pressure, prompting her to miss today's hearing.

Gordon said they are issuing the orders after the AMLC officials failed to appear on today's hearing to shed light on the frozen bank accounts of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante, said to be the architect of the fund scam.

In a letter dated November 27, Vicente Aquino, executive director of the AMLC secretariat, begged Gordon to be excused from attending Friday's hearing since he already had a speaking engagement in Davao City.

Aquino also informed the committee that he could not submit an affidavit or statement relating to Bolante's bank accounts because the AMLC investigation is still ongoing.

Gordon admonished Bolante for his refusing, at first, to give the committee a copy of a Court of Appeals resolution in connection with his frozen bank accounts.

"That's a public document. We can get it anyway if you don't want to give it. It just shows that you are being evasive again. You cannot be evasive here, I have already warned you," he said.

The Senate decided to compel the AMLC to submit a copy of documents pertaining to Bolante's bank accounts after the senators were stumped when the representatives of three banks - RCBC, Union Bank and BPI - all refused to confirm questions about his accounts, citing the Bank Secrecy Law.

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