Wednesday, February 13, 2008 Wenceslao: Several days of Lozada By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
AFTER two days of Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. on the boob tube, one inevitably gathers insights. I can actually glean some credibility behind those droopy eyebrows, although at times I get suspicious. But this is obvious: Lozada was not an insider in the wheeling and dealing that hounded the national broadband network (NBN) transaction.
What he knows about the deal is not any deeper than the one Joey de Venecia III exposed earlier on. Thus, his testimony in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee last Friday was not as explosive as some politicians touted it to be. Don’t you get the feeling the discussion on his “abduction” was more exciting than his testimony on the NBN deal?
Lozada was brought in by former socio-economic secretary Romulo Neri to review the NBN deal. Meaning, he was more of Neri’s consultant. It was not surprising that he could not provide insider details on the transaction, save for conversations with some officials, like former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos.
His testimony on First Gentleman Mike Arroyo was also very limited (that Abalos called FG on the phone). The public cannot therefore make a definite conclusion on Arroyo’s participation, or non-participation, in Abalos’ “maneuver” to get kickbacks from the deal. But it did fire up people’s imagination, sparking speculations like the:
-- “Can’t refuse Abalos” angle. This theory finds Abalos guilty of scheming to get the supposed $130 million commission from China’s ZTE firm in the NBN transaction. FG and, presumably President Arroyo, were forced to follow Abalos’ dictates because Abalos knew something about or facilitated cheating for them in previous elections.
-- “FG and PGMA are the mastermind” angle. This theory reverses the situation in the first speculation. Those who are holding on to this line believe FG and PGMA are merely using Abalos as their front man in the attempt to get kickbacks from the NBN deal. The speculation hinges on the belief that Abalos could not have acted on his own.
With these kinds of speculations, I am not surprised that moves by militants and the political opposition to force President Arroyo’s resignation are being renewed and rumors of destabilization attempts are again flying around. Expect these developments to heat up even as opposition senators will milk Lozada dry in the ongoing Senate inquiry.
Lozada’s testimony on the NBN transaction, however limited the information he divulged was, is therefore damaging still to the Arroyo administration. Note that every new allegation of corrupt acts pulls down the popularity of the President. Politics in the country is a game of perception and in this sense the political opposition is winning.
Malacañang’s biggest error in L’Affaire Lozada was, of course, the attempt to prevent him from testifying in the Senate. Lozada may not have been kidnapped as some eager beavers want to portray that incident at the airport but it was obvious the moves of Malacañang people were meant to prevent him from going to the Senate.
Filipinos are partial for the truth. That’s one lesson senators who sealed the Jose Velarde envelop in the Joseph Estrada impeachment trial learned the hard way in 2001.
