A U.S. court dismissed recently former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante’s petition for habeas corpus which, he said, would enable him to challenge the legality of his two-year detention.
Judge Charles N. Clevert Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Wisconsin cited lack of jurisdiction in dismissing Bolante’s petition last Sept. 3.
Judge Lynn Adelman of the same court dismissed on Oct. 18, 2006 a similar petition from Bolante also “for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
Bolante, who fled the Philippines at the height of the Senate investigation on his suspected involvement the P728 million fertilizer fund scam, was arrested when he arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport on July 7, 2006 without a valid visa.
He is detained at the Kenosha County Detention Center in Illinois and is scheduled to be deported anytime after his petition for asylum has been repeatedly denied by immigration authorities and the courts.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied Bolante’s asylum claim last Aug. 27, paving the way for his deportation.
Lawyer Harry Roque, who has been following Bolante’s case, said the former agriculture undersecretary is “running scared.”
“One can only speculate why he is so desperately trying to avoid the wheels of justice in the Philippines,” he added.
Bolante has also been linked to the failed swine program of the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. or Quedancor. The money for the fertilizer and swine programs was said to have been diverted to President Arroyo’s 2004 electoral campaign. (Download the court decision and Bolante’s petition)