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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Gov't officials told Senate: Lozada not kidnapped
MANILA -- Government officials who attended Monday's Senate inquiry on the controversial US$329 million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with China firm ZTE Corp. denied claims of Rodolfo Lozada Jr. that he was kidnapped upon his arrival at the airport last February 5.
Lozada, a witness of the NBN deal, maintained he was not protected but instead kidnapped. He told the Senate he was taken against his will.
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But Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Avelino Razon Jr. said Lozada was never kidnapped to prevent him from testifying at the Senate hearing on the questionable project.
"Let it be clear that there was neither kidnapping nor abduction, the Police Security and Protection Office (PSPO) provided security for Lozada upon Lozada's request. The PNP did not hold him, but were in fact securing his person," Razon said.
He further said: "Lozada went with the PNP out of his own free will. Lozada was free to use his cell phone all the time. Lozada was free to leave the PNP at anytime. In fact, up to the evening of February 6, 2008, Lozada did not want to appear before the Senate."
Lozada in his testimony said he was met by six men, some of them armed, in the tube connecting his airplane to the airport and taken on a ride against his will. He said they did not answer him when they asked him who they were and where they were taking him and had instructed him to stop using his mobile phone.
Senate President Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr. on Monday recommended to committees investigating the alleged kidnapping of Lozada an ocular inspection of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
"The investigating panels should conduct an ocular inspection of the airport to enable the Senate to follow exactly what transpired from the airplane to the car," said Villar.
"This (ocular inspection) is to enlighten the members of the committees on this issue," he emphasized.
Tracing and re-enacting the series of incidents at the airport where Lozada was taken away are crucial, he added.
During the hearing, Villar also aired his resentment over the executive department of apparent and continuing effort to prevent vital witnesses from appearing before Senate inquiries into anomalies in government.
He said it appeared that there was an intention to stop Lozada from testifying on the NBN deal investigation.
Villar, questioning Manila International Airport Administration (MIAA) assistant general manager Angel Atutubo, said he takes exception to testimonies stating that executive department officials, including law enforcement officials and airport officials, acted to prevent Senate custody of Lozada.
The lawmaker was referring to the disappearance of Lozada at Naia upon his arrival from Hong Kong last February 5.
Villar believed that Lozada was taken against his free will even as government officials insisted that Lozada himself asked for protection.
Reacting to Razon's statement that he asked for the protection through a handwritten letter, Lozada said the men who took custody of him directed him to write the letter inside the vehicle.
Lozada on Monday sat next to the officials he accused of having held him for two days after he arrived at Manila's airport last Tuesday from a foreign trip. He grinned often before the TV cameras, appearing surprised by the official denials.
In his testimony, Lozada said he was kidnapped by military men who fetched him and was even forced to sign written request for police protection and affidavits.
He also said that while he was in police custody, a politician close to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo told him the President was getting hurt by the controversy and asked him to publicly deny that he was kidnapped.
Lozada said his friend, former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor, told him to deny the truth that he gave him the P50,000 last week during their meeting at de la Salle in Ortigas allegedly in exchange for not revealing his knowledge about the NBN deal.
Lozada returned the money given to him by the former Palace official during the hearing.
Later during the hearing, Lozada agreed with Defensor's version when he admitted having advised Lozada to call a press conference and announce that he was not kidnapped but that the money was from the Palace official's personal funds and only intended to help out a friend in need.
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, meanwhile, backed Razon's statement, saying he told Lozada by phone that he was being held by government men who were ordered to protect him.
Razon said a police team secured Lozada at the airport at his request because of unspecified threats to his life.
Lozada was allowed to use his cell phone, given a meal in a steak restaurant, and eventually allowed to join his family at a Catholic-run university, Razon said.
Razon said Lozada was brought by the PSPO to La Salle "at his expressed request where his family was waiting."
He said the police have accomplished its mission to keep Lozada alive and unharmed.
"The PNP initially kept silent regarding Lozada's whereabouts for security reasons. The PNP successfully accomplished its mission, Mr. Lozada is alive and well," he stressed.
"The police drew the flak despite its highest degree of professionalism to guard the safety of Lozada upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) last February 5," the PNP chief lamented.
Razon said Lozada could never be considered a kidnap victim, or having forcibly placed in the PNP custody.
"He (Lozada) was a free man. He was free to use his cell phone all the time. He was free to leave the PNP any time he wanted to," he reiterated.
Razon said it was the mandate of PNP to safeguard anyone whose life is in danger.
"Environment Secretary Lito Atienza requested police assistance to escort Lozada, who feared for his life so we provided him with the security," he noted.
He said the police even brought Lozada to La Salle Greenhills dormitory to meet with his wife and children.
"I continued to monitor the situation on February 06, 2008 through Chief Superintendent Romeo Hilomen. I understand that the PSPO continued to provide Mr. Lozada with security for that day, that Mr. Lozada was able to speak with his lawyer and with Defensor," he said.
"What is important is that we secured Mr. Lozada and protected him from any harm. We delivered him alive, safe and sound, and he is now talking to our senators," Razon said.
In response, Lozada said that while he was on his way home from Hong Kong, he talked with Atienza who only told him to go directly to the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) because everything was taken cared of and the BID would ensure that he was not arrested at the airport.
He said he was surprised when he was met shortly after getting off from the plane by six men he did not know and who did not introduce themselves to him. He said that at that time, he considered what happened to him as kidnapping.
Lozada pointed at Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Manuel Gaite as the person who antedated all his travel papers to allow him to leave for Hong Kong.
Lozada told senators he did not want to testify in the Senate hearing because he did not want government people to be dragged to the NBN mess.
The NBN witness said he has no other option but to tell the truth because of the so many threats that he is getting from unseen forces.
Meanwhile, Malacañang urged the senators and the public in general to listen and take note of the testimonies of the Cabinet, police, and airport officials instead of focusing or relying solely on the claims of Lozada.
Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said the appearance of the administration officials in the Senate investigation on the irregularities surrounding the NBN deal is intended to give their side of the story, acknowledging that these officials had been "consistent" in their statements.
Golez said the people should also give the investigations of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the reported irregularities in the deal a chance to move forward.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, for his part, said the officials who testified only showed that they "acted in good faith, after the safety of witness and took action accordingly."
He said their testimonies also showed that the previous statements of Lozada was "full of inconsistencies" and refuted his claim that there was abduction or kidnapping.
Bunye said the testimonies also showed that there was some "bad faith" on the part of Lozada and his family after they filed petition for writs for habeas corpus and amparo despite knowing that he is safe and was even in the custody of the La Salle brothers in Greenhills.
The United Opposition (UNO) has called on President Arroyo to resign and said they are readying mass actions nationwide to pressure her to follow the "Constitutional way out" of the impasse.
The opposition reiterated their call after a meeting attended by opposition personalities and militant groups in Makati where the group also expressed their support to the revelation of Lozada regarding the alleged anomalies that attended the botched NBN deal.
"This is the right time for Mrs. Arroyo to resign and take the Constitutional way out. She has lost all moral authority to represent our people and govern the country," said UNO spokesman Adel Tamano.
Tamano said the current controversy generated by the NBN expose and other anomalies that hounded the Arroyo administration is more than enough reason for the President to resign. (CPB/VR/JMR/AH/Sunnex/With AP)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (February 12, 2008 issue)
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