Lawyer Harry Roque has an offer to make to Joc-joc Bolante: I will testify in favor of your request for asylum in the United States on one condition – tell the truth.
Roque said Bolante should reveal who ordered him to divert the P728 million fertilizer fund and some two billion pesos more of agricultural funds to the campaign kitty of Gloria Arroyo in 2004.
“It is revealing information of this kind that would subject him to true political persecution in the Philippines and strengthen his bid for asylum. Anytime he is willing to reveal the truth, I would be happy to take his deposition,” Roque said.
Bolante will have his chance to talk on Nov. 8 when he appears at the Chicago Immigration court. If he does that, Roque will support his bid for asylum when it’s his turn to testify on Nov. 9.
Because indeed, if Bolante decides to tell the truth, that would be added ammunition for the political opposition against Gloria Arroyo. It may not be used for impeachment while she holds the House of Representatives in the palm of her hands, but it would be added to the growing list of crimes that she has to answer to the Filipino people once she is out of power.
Malacañang will do everything to silence Bolante. The danger to his life, if he decides to tell the truth, will not come from the New People’s Army as he is claiming now but from his co-conspirators to defraud the Filipino farmers of the fund for their livelihood.
If Bolante continues with his present line, Roque said, “I will reiterate why he is not entitled to asylum.”
Roque has opposed granting of Bolante’s asylum on the ground that he is not a victim of persecution in the Philippines; he is accused of a non-political crime; and he has been evading summonses to face investigation by the Senate.
In the wake of the dismissal by the Wisconsin District Court of his petition for habeas corpus last week, Bolante is left with very limited options. Roque said, “His fate now depends exclusively on the immigration courts and the Department of Homeland Security. The fact that these two agencies have refused him bail is also indicative of these agencies’ position that he has no legal basis to stay in the US.”
Roque said, “His only recourse is to tell the truth about the fertilizer scandal.”
I seriously doubt if Bolante will do that. Truth is not an option for creatures of Bolante’s breed.
That means he will either be sent back to the Philippines or he remains in prison in the United States.
Earlier, Bolante made a silly offer through his lawyer “to talk” in exchange for a restoration of his B1B2 visa. Roque’s correspondent lawyer in the US, Mary Carmen Madrid-Crost, said Bolante’s lawyer Y. Judd Azulay warned that, “If he is deported, he will disappear forever.”
I have no doubt that with the help of his fellow Rotarian Mike Arroyo, Bolante can disappear like what Garcillano did at the height of the Hello Garci tapes scandal. Once he is back in the Philippines, he has the whole government network to help him “disappear.”
On the “forever” part of his threat, Bolante better be careful because as long as he holds the “truth” about the agricultural funds scam, he is a danger to the brains of that crime.
He might just “disappear forever.”
yeah..bolante might get what he wished….
that is, “disappear forever”….courtesy of his benefactor and cronies, the conjugal planners opf all scams.
BUT if he “sings” and tell the truth, then he is making a great leap to oust the ghost employees who remains entrenched in Malacanang.
I hope that all’s well that ends well.
May TRUTH prevail in the Philippines.
You bet, he will disappear once he’s deported from the US, but as far as the Americans are concerned this bolate is a real pain in the ass!!!
If he does not confess, and the US will not deport this crook, they may just as well get ready to investigate his holdings and assets in the US and determine if they have been acquired through kleptocracy, and the possibility of his bringing in big sums of money when he was arrested. And when he is convicted and his properties confiscated, then and only then will this crook sings his blues, but the mediate, unless she is removed earlier may most probably as for an extradition.
Lintik ang tindi!
Oops, this should read: but the MIDGET, unless she is removed earlier may most probably ASK for an extradition.
Jocelyn Bolate is nothing but a confused she-him trying to be something she-him is not. Enough time has been already exhausted to this waste, this another animal of Gloria that out on the lease.
Why waste time on this rotten thief I’ll never understand. This sucker has stolen the wealth of the poor people in the Philippines, and hired himself a lawyer(s) so he can lie some more. Bolate doesn’t deserve the clean air in USA. I hope when he gets back to Philippines, somebody would take him behind Malacanang and dip his head under water of murky stinky Pasig River. Jocelyn surely deserve it for stealing the people’s money.
Mapipilitan din iyang si bolate na magsabi ng totoo, anyway, wala na siya dito sa bansang pinamumunuan ng isang pekeng presidente, the liar, the cheater, the corrupt. Sa US kailangan niyang magsabi ng totoo. Kumanta ka na Joc Joc!!! Wala ka ng pupuntahan!!
Extraordinary that Bolante chooses to remain in prison rather than tell the truth and be done with it.
He really must be scared for his life if thrown back to Pinas that he prefers the company of other criminals like him (maybe he believes there’s honor between criminals within the confines of a prison than in Gloria’s and Fatso’s jungle in Pinas.)
Anna,
It’s the mentality—anything Filipino for most Filipinos just sucks, but anything foreign, even something criminal, is good!!! Remember what I wrote before about some Filipinos even asking Japanese prison officials to extend their stay in prison here rather be deported home to the Philippines? You’re right about the lack of some cultural honor, or the lack of some culture of honor and dignity.
Now, the young ones are even learning how to wiggle their way out of any legal and moral responsibility as when they learn how to say, “I’m sorry” without meaning it and reasoning out that it is a mere lapse of judgment. They’re learning from the bogus president and her minions about how not to go to prison even when you have committed the most heinous crimes.
Grabe na ito! PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Yuko,
Re: “It’s the mentality—anything Filipino for most Filipinos just sucks, but anything foreign, even something criminal, is good!!!”
Looks like you are right again.
Really quite extraordinary.
You bet, Anna, extraordinarily evil! Satanita talaga!
Does Lawyer Harry Roque has the authority to negotiate with Josie Bolate? Or, he’s doing it on his own initiative? It seems to me Josie Bolate should be talking or negotiating directly with Sen. Magsaysay or to the Senate, instead. It will really doesn’t matter the least with me, for all I care Josie Bolate can choke to death this moment. Just wondering.
It’s so amazing that this lard hog and a thief is getting all this attention. If Josie Bolate is somekind of a person with little shame and dignity left on his bone, he would just cut his throat and save the country of further embarrasment. But, he’ll drag this thing and lie and lie. Where all these shameless people came from anyway, like Garcillano, Arroyos, Henerales, Chavit, Davide, and list is so doggone long that will fill up this page.
As a lawyer, Roque does not have to have an authority to talk with Bolate especially when he files a motion in the name of the People of the Republic of the Philippines VS Jocelyn Bolante. It is a privilege granted to lawyers, you know. What he has presented to the US court I understand is an amicus curiae, “a friend of the court” offering information on a point of law or some other aspect of a case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it even if he is not directly involved in the case. He is more an advocate in this case. It is proper and permitted.
Would Bolate agree to what Atty. Roque offered him when he says, “I will testify in favor of your request for asylum in the United States on one condition – tell the truth.”
Maybe Bolate would, if HIS LIFE depended on it.
The answer of Bolate would be interesting.
ystakei:
“Lawyer Roque files a motion in the name of the People of the Republic of the Philippines vs Jocelyn Bolante.” Curiously, Republic of the Philippines supposedly represented by the government of the Philippines and since Lawyer Roque doesn’t hold any capacity as government official in the government of bogus Gloria, it seems to me there is a conflict of interest. As you claimed, how can Lawyer Roque represent bogus Gloria’s administration when they don’t even speak to each other? I would agree on the merit of “a friend of the court” representing himself, but not the Republic of the Philippines.
Toney, any Filipino for that matter can file a claim against anyone in the name of the Republic of the Philippines as a matter of fact, because it is supposed to be a government FOR, OF AND BY THE PEOPLE. He can file a claim in the name of the Republic of the Philippines because he is part of this republic and he does not have to be a government official. He is part and parcel of this Republic like anyone who has Filipino nationality.
You will be surprised to know that when a person is indicted in the Philippines, it says “People of the Republic of the Philippines VS so and so.”
I understand that Atty. Roque is representing a group of lawyers who are helping solve this case of the People of the Republic of the Philippines VS Jocelyn Bolate.
I advise that you study the criminal procedure law of the Philippines and the US to understand what Roque is doing for the people of the Republic of the Philippines that others cannot have the guts and “balls” to do.
Instead of criticizing him, we should thank him for his efforts. If he is paid for doing so, he deserves it, but we already have received an assurance that he is doing this out of his sense of duty to his country and people, and sense of right and wrong. Gratitutde indeed is a virtue that many of us should try to develop because it is good. Roque deserves that.
No, Roque is not representing the bogus president nor her administration, he is representing the whole Philippine nation , of which he is a member!
On this principle, in fact, we are encouraging Filipinos at home and Japan to file a case VS the bogus president, et al for trying to sell Philippine patrimonies in Japan without going through the process prescribed in the Japan-Philippine Reparations Treaty, and the SC ruling of 1992.
The litigation will be filed in Tokyo with the help of Japanese lawyers assisted by lawyers from the Philippines who may file similar motion as the amicus curiae of Atty. Roque.
We invite ALL Filipinos fed up of these crooks sucking everything that the Philippines have to join us in submitting this petition to the Japanese court that somehow still has jurisdiction over the Philippine patrimonies in Japan.
God willing, we shall win and overcome!!!
ystakei:
I never in my comments criticized Lawyer Harry Roque, I was just curiosly asking question. Referring to the beginning of the talking point if you’ve noticed, “Lawyer Harry Roque has an offer to make to Joc-joc Bolante…..” As you well aware, Philippines Senate is after Josie and Lawyer Roque doesn’t represent the Senate, as far as to my understanding. So, in that premise, I’m wondering what authority he represent to negotiate with Josie Bolante or why Josie would even waste his time with Lawyer Roque when he has no authority, except his interest to find out the truth of what Josie did with the P728 million.
I also know Lawyer Roque not representing Gloria’s administration. It puzzled me somewhat when you say Lawyer Roque file a motion on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines, when Lawyer Roque doesn’t represent the Republic of the Philippines. I’m also much aware about People of the Republic VS So and So. It’s the technical common legal term used against someone being charged by the government.
I think, you’re taking it to the extreme when you said, Lawyer Roque is representing the whole Philippine nation, of which he is a member. He might be a Pilipino, but I doubt it very much if represent the Philippines as a whole. After all, there are proper protocal in the govt even with bogus Gloria on board as defined it the constitution. And as much as we don’t care much for bogus Gloria still she has something to say about who should represent the Philippines as a nation, most especially abroad. That’s why we’ve Department of Foreign Affairs.
I do thank Lawyer Harry Roque and much gratified for taking interest in this matter,and he should be commended, absolutely. Just my curiosity, of what he’s doing got the best of me. Furthermore, I don’t think I need to study the criminal law of the Philippines, I’m on top of it.
For all you know, Toney, when it comes to legal matters, lawyers like Roque does not even have to go through protocol. They are allowed by International legalities to do the kind of action that he has done for the sake of ALL Filipinos, and this is why I have assumed that he has acted on behalf of the Philippine nation to which he belongs.
I’m not actually zeroing on you. I just thought that you, and all Filipinos should be grateful that there has been a Roque bold enough to take such initiative that some people who do not even have any idea of what the criminal procedures are in the Philippines or the USA seem to try hard to discourage this valiant lawyer with uncalled for comments and criticisms.
If what you said so far are not criticisms then so be it, but frankly, I thought you were being rather harsh on him. You see, if you are not for him, you are against him. If you are with him, appreciating what he has done so far will come easy as a matter of fact.
Something sounding untoward even if there is no such intention on the part of the person making comments on some good deeds done can definitely kill enthusiasm. Thus, I thought Filipinos should just try to be grateful that something is being done especially by someone who surely knows what he is doing!
What do you mean by being on top of it? Over here, we do not sit on our references books on the laws of the land and those of other countries that can have bearing on our own laws. We pull them out of the bookshelves from time to time to be sure that we have the right law, because I doubt if there is any one lawyer, etc. who can remember all the laws and provisions (articles, clauses, etc,) of any law in application to a particular case.
Assuming that you were not a lawyer, I thought that you might want to read the criminal procedure laws of the Philippines and the USA to be able to know how and why Roque is able to get through the court handling the case of Bolate.
BTW, you will note that he is in fact coordinating with some licensed lawyer in the USA with similar concern as his, because the truth is unless he is licensed lawyer in the USA, he cannot practice his profession there even if he is a professional lawyer in the Philippines, but there is now a process where he can act as an advocate not in the immigration case against the Bolate but the possibility of having Bolate made to confess for a crime committed in the Philippines, which in fact does not violate any rule of/on jurisdiction over the case regarding the fertilizer scam.
This is actually my understanding of this procedure based on cases I have helped handled in Japan as a paralegal and interpreter. I must admit that criticisms would be the last thing that Atty Roque would want for what he has done especially from the people he does this advocacy for.
Thanks ystakei!
De nada, Toney. My pleasure.
If Bolente won’t confess, the best for him is be declared as enemy combatant and get sent Guantamo prison or Syria like Arar. They can do that now easily in America. No one deserves it more than him.
Unfortunately, Joseph, Bolate is not a Moslem and cannot be considered an enemy by Bush, not even by mistake. So, no dice! Besides, masyado siyang mataba!
Etong si Harry Roque abogado sa Pilipinas pero hindi sa Amerika. Pero bakit at paano siya makikipag-tuos sa korte sa Amerika? Para payagan kang mag-representa ng sino man tao o kliente o grupo, dapat ay lisensiyado kang abogado sa Amerika. Di ba?