MANILA, Philippines -- Families of Filipino migrant workers urged Jocelyn Bolante to emulate Senate witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. by spilling the beans on the allegedly anomalous disbursement of P728 million in government funds intended to purchase fertilizer for poor farmers.“He should do what Lozada did when he went against the order of Malacañang for him to hide. That’s the least Bolante could do to for families of overseas workers like us,” said Allen Cruz. “Dapat kumanta na din siya sa Senado katulad ni J-Lo [He should sing in the Senate like J-Lo],” he said with a laugh, apparently referring to Lozada’s famous monicker, which in turn is the nickname of singer Jennifer Lopez. Bolante returned to the country Tuesday night after being deported by the United States, which had denied his bid for political asylum. The former agriculture undersecretary is accused of engineering the diversion of the money intended for fertilizer to the 2004 campaign kitty of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He has been served an arrest order issued by the Senate and is considered under the chamber’s custody even as he remains confined at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. He was ordered arrested by the Senate in late 2005 after he failed to heed summonses to appear at the chamber’s inquiry into the fertilizer scam. Lozada, on the other hand, is a key witness in the Senate probe of the NBN deal, which has since been scrapped by Arroyo. Among those who have been linked to the alleged bribery and overpricing surrounding the deal are resigned Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. Cruz and other persons waiting for their relatives returning from abroad at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal I were temporarily inconvenienced Tuesday night as members of militant groups greeted Bolante’s arrival with protests. Bearing placards with their demands written on them, the protesters called on Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to act on the four criminal complaints against Bolante. “Mr. Bolante, where is our money?” said one of the placards. “Jail Bolante, oust Gloria,” another one read. Cruz, whose wife was returning from a two-year work contract in Hong Kong, likewise asked lawmakers not to let Bolante and his cohorts off the hook. He said lawmakers must consider that the billions of pesos in remittances sent by Filipinos abroad buoy the local economy amid the global economic meltdown. “Every centavo that the government takes away from the families of OFWs [as tax] is part of the hard-earned money of our loved ones,” the 35-year-old tricycle driver from Quezon City told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net). “That’s the product of their sweat and blood,” he said. Cecilia Ruiz, said Bolante must attend the Senate inquiry to put a closure to allegations that Arroyo won the 2004 elections through massive corruption and cheating. Ruiz, 67, lamented how the string of controversies besetting the Arroyo administration has brought embarrassment to Filipinos abroad. The retired public school teacher related how her 32-year-old son felt when he attended an international forum in the US a few months ago. “My son said one of the Japanese participants in that event asked him why the government failed to arrest those behind the aborted [national broadband network] deal. Napayuko na lang daw siya sa kahihiyan [He said he bowed his head in shame],” Ruiz said. For Arvin Basilio, putting Bolante behind bars could be the best Christmas gift the government could offer families of OFWs. He said the government should also compel Bolante to return the money he earned from allegedly facilitating the release of the missing agriculture funds. “If the government is really serious in resolving corruption, they should jail Bolante and return the money to the people,” said Basilio, who was also waiting for the arrival of his mother from Hong Kong. | 
