Aytona surrenders to Senate blue ribbon panel

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Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today brought Ms. Marites Aytona to the Senate after she surrendered and agreed to testify before the Senate blue ribbon committee probing the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Gordon, committee chair, arrived at the Senate with Aytona and immediately brought her to the Senate clinic to have her checked by the doctors for her high blood pressure.

"Ms. Aytona called me up last night, and I told her if she wants she could meet with me today. And that's what she did. We met at the Sofitel hotel and I brought her here at the Senate," he said.

Gordon said Aytona will be under the Senate's custody but could not divulge where she would be detained for her safety.

He added that Aytona has not yet revealed much about her knowledge of the fertilizer fund project. She only maintained that she knows Jaime "Jimmy" Paule, but not the former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante.

"I asked her about the statement she sent to the (Senate) blue ribbon (committee) a few weeks ago. The only thing she said is that the person who called her and gave her a three-percent commission was Paule," Gordon said.

The senator said she expects Aytona to be honest and to disclose everything she knows about the fertilizer fund scam as the committee resumes its hearing on Dec. 22.