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Monday, February 18, 2008
Lozada turns over P500,000 Palace money to Senate (11:53 a.m.)
MANILA -- Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr. turned over Monday the P500,000 allegedly given to him by deputy executive secretary for legal affairs Manuel Gaite as spending money for his trip to Hong Kong to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
Lozada is the witness in the senate investigation on the botched multi-million-dollar national broadband network (NBN) project.
The money was contained in a sealed brown envelope when inspected by a senate staff during the hearing. Inside the envelope where 10 bundles at 50,000 each bundle.
According to Lozada the money was given to his younger brother in a mall in Mandaluying while he is in Hong Kong after he complaind to chairman Romulo Neri of the Commission of Higher Education and Environment Secretary Lito Atienza that he had no money to spend in Hong Kong.
Lozada said he never got the chance to spend the money becuase he used his credit card and he was already in Hong Kong when the money was given to his brother.
There has been no statement yet from Gaite regarding the matter.
Lozada in his earlier appearance in senate also returned the P50,000 that was given by former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor while he was still in hiding from senate authorities.(Sunnex) |
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