THE Senate Blue Ribbon committee will grill former agriculture undersecretary for finance Jocelyn "Joc Joc" Bolante on the murder of journalist Marlene Esperat in 2005.

At the continuation of its investigation on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, Blue ribbon chair Sen. Richard Gordon said the panel will reopen the Esperat killing "motu propio."

In 2003, Esperat accused Bolante, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, former Agriculture Secretary Luis "Cito" Lorenzo Jr., and other officials of the Department of Agriculture of graft for what she said was the bid rigging and overpricing of fertilizer distributed under the P432-million Ginintuang Masaganang Ani program in 2003.

Esperat, a resident Ombudsman in Central Mindanao, was gunned down in front of her children at their house in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat by a lone assassin on March 24, 2005.

Two weeks after the killing, Randy Grecia, one of the suspected lookouts, surrendered and subsequently pleaded guilty.

Grecia and his alleged accomplices Estanislao Bismanos, Gerry Cabayag, and Rowie Barua, testified they were hired by two DA officials in Central Mindanao to kill Esperat.

The suspected masterminds were identified as Estrella Sabay, a finance officer, and Osmeña Montaner, Regional Accountant, DA Region 12. Murder charges were filed against them in Tacurong City on Oct. 20, 2008.

Just recently, the Ombudsman acquitted Yap and Bolante for lack of evidence.

While the Esperat murder case was mentioned in previous investigations at the Senate, senators explained the predicate was not properly laid down about the complete circumstances that led to her death.

"This time we will investigate why a resident Ombudsman in the Agriculture Department in Mindanao was killed because she wanted to expose an anomaly. So far, the case has made some progress in courts but the masterminds have never been revealed," Gordon said.

"The anomaly allegedly involves as much as P460 million, it was done by certain personalities, and the person who wanted to expose it was killed. This is what badly needs to be investigated," he added.

Gordon said he is gathering evidence that will pinpoint the killing’s mastermind.

Gordon’s panel also found out there was technical malversation in the implementation of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani program.

"The SARO (special allotment release order) states clearly that the fund is intended for farm inputs. But it was used to purchase items such as tractors and shredders, which are not included in the definition of a farm input," he said.

Gordon said the advise of SARO dated Feb. 3, 2004 and the notice of cash allocation for the farm inputs-farm implements (FIFI) program all specify that the P728 million fund was intended only for the purchase of farm inputs.

Bolante has said farm input category include pesticides, insecticides, seedlings, fingerlings, fertilizer, among others.