Press Release
December 21, 2008

Time is running out for Paule -- Gordon

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today urged Jaime "Jimmy" Paule anew to come out and face the Senate investigation into the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, warning him that his continued hiding will not do him any good.

Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, issued the stern warning not only to have Paule testify at the panel's next hearings on Monday, but also out of concern for his safety, especially after another witness Marites Aytona reported an ambush attempt on her life.

"Mr. Paule should come out in the open because if he has some knowledge on this multi-million fertilizer fund scam, he may be in great danger.. But if he surrenders to the Senate, we can even give him protection," he said.

Gordon recalled that the deaths of two former Department of Agriculture (DA) employees -- Marlene Esperat and Teofilo Mojica -- had been linked to their attempts to expose alleged irregularities in the department.

The senator said Paule must come out now to have a chance to clear his name and defend himself against allegations against him as more witnesses pin him down to the controversial DA project.

DA undersecretary Belinda Gonzales had testified that Paule was one of the people who were at the meeting with former DA undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante at the New World Hotel in Makati City sometime in 2002.

Gonzales said Paule's group was seeking assistance against certain people who had claimed connections with the DA and who had duped them.

For her part, Leonicia Llarena, owner of the Dane Publishing Inc., said she had known Paule and Aytona since 1998 and had been giving them loans for their projects with the government.

She added that Paule had sought financial assistance from her regarding the fertilizer project. She issued 10 personal checks from March 25 to September 30, 2004 totalling to P12.695 million to enable Paule to get fertilizers from Feshan Philippines Inc, the biggest supplier in the said project.

Meanwhile, Gordon said that according to Aytona, Paule had asked her to be the "packager" of project proposals to local government units and was offered a three-percent commission for every proposal approved.

Gordon said the statements of Gonzales, Llarena and Aytona all point to Paule as a big part of the implementation of the fertilizer project.

"Mr. Paule has a lot of explaining to do. That could be the reason behind his continuous hiding, because he knows a lot about this and he may not have a good explanation on his actions," he said.

"Paule has been in the system of entering into transactions with the government. And I think this guy is apparently embedded in the system of corruption," he added.

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