Monday, March 10, 2008 Seares: Jun Lozada and Cris Saavedra By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
HOW does Rodolfo Lozada Jr., Senate hearing witness on the ZTE national broadband deal, compare with Cris Saavedra, complainant in the Asean projects mess in Cebu?
First, the obvious differences:
Jun is younger, slimmer, and still has most of his hair. He talks big-time, about a devilish plan to milk a government project of millions of dollars in borrowed money.
Cris is older, heavier, and lost all hair ages ago. He yaps about overpriced street lamps, defective spy cameras, and cost overruns in the widely publicized CICC. Big money to us “promdis” but small change beside humongous NBN money.
Jun gets lots of attention, lionized in campuses and coddled by President Arroyo’s critics.
Cris is almost ignored in public. People don’t drop what they’re doing when he surfaces. He’s a celebrity who’s not being treated like one.
Jun sounds meek but hammers on over-used wearying themes of love of country (“taong bayan”) and the truth (“ang katotohanan”). Soon enough, with his politico prancing, he’ll grate on people’s nerves.
Mannah
Cris starves for applause and he’s not hiding it. He talks as if he were a precious gift from heaven and openly solicits public adulation. When awarded by Cebu City as “outstanding individual,” he asked, in effect, other LGUs: How about you? Wala ba kayong mga kamay d’yan?
Most striking difference between them: Jun was privy to a sinister plot while Cris wasn’t an insider anywhere.
But what they’re doing requires a brave heart and some loony streak. They could lead us to dark secrets or empty charges.
