Gaite says P500T given to Lozada ‘personal funds’ (1:50 p.m.)
MANILA — Deputy Executive Secretary Manuel Gaite told Senators in a hearing Tuesday that the P500,000 he gave to the brother of NBN witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr. were personal funds.
This however turned different to what Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Gaite’s boss, said earlier that the money was not government funds but from public anonymous sources.
Gaite told senators that he decided to give the money to Lozada after the latter texted him that he was cold and not winter clothes at 2 in the morning. He said he thought that Lozada was in London at that time.
He told senators that the money he gave to Lozada was money he loaned from an uncle and contributions from his in-laws intended for the repair and renovation of their house in Bulacan.
It was learned from Gaite’s testimony that he only met Lozada twice and gave the P500,000 as a loan to the senate witness.
However, senators were not satisfied with Gaite’s explanation.
“I cannot provide rational justification for my act. My action was moved by my faith and conscience, I pitied him and that’s what I did,” Gaite told senators. (Sunnex)
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