Paule surrenders to Senate blue ribbon panel

Cornered by the arrest order issued by the Senate blue ribbon panel, Jaime "Jimmy" Paule, who is also being linked to the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, today surrendered to the jurisdiction of the committee.

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon, committee chair, said Paule, whose participation in the alleged scam was attested to by several witnesses, was finally driven into recognizing the Senate panel and submitting himself to its jurisdiction.

"I don't find it funny that he (Paule) had been evading us. He told me that he did not get our invitation. How can he receive them when we did not even have his correct address? Maybe he wants to clear his name now," he said.

Paule, accompanied by his counsel Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, arrived at the Senate a day after the latter wrote to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile seeking the lifting of the arrest warrant against his client.

He was the latest witness summoned by the Senate blue ribbon committee who surrendered after having been issued a warrant of arrest for repeated failure to attend the hearings.

Gordon pointed out that based on the testimonies of the other witnesses, the whole picture is now slowly coming out clearly and it appears that Paule is in the midst of the whole operation.

"Paule is not acting by himself. He is pulling the strings below and somebody is directing him how to do it. Almost all of the other witnesses are exposing his connection in the whole deal. It is now becoming clearer to the public how the alleged scam was orchestrated," he said.

Apart from Paule, others who also surrendered to the Senate committee after arrest orders were issued against them were Marites Aytona, Julie Gregorio and Reden Antolin, president and vice president of Feshan Phils, respectively.